


999

by Attenreon



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Humor, I will use every single high school romance cliché I can think of, Japanese High School, Lots of it, Pining, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Swearing, and no one can stop me, hopefully at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25574446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Attenreon/pseuds/Attenreon
Summary: “… Look, 9S, I know that she was very pretty, but crying about it is still a bit of an overkill, don’t you think?”Japanese high school AU, in which 9S is a 16-year-old first year student living on his own in a big city, plagued with dreams of the end of the world, death, and a white-haired girl he calls 2B.Contains major spoilers!
Relationships: 2B/9S (NieR: Automata)
Comments: 60
Kudos: 131





	1. "Nice to meet you, my name is 9S."

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I haven't written any kind of fiction in years and I have a track record of not finishing my stories, so apologies in advance if that happens again. I do hope the years have made me wiser and more persistent to finish what I start. Also, I'm not a native speaker so there might be some little errors here and there (if anyone wants to beta, please let me know!)
> 
> I will also use the words senpai (in dialogue) and I'm not going to be sorry about it. I'll drop the other honorifics (although I imagine 6O calling all the boys -kun while 2B doesn't use anything for them.)

_He’s running as fast as his legs can take him. His artificial legs were not designed to run like this and they desperately send out pain signals but he grits his teeth and ignores them. He pushes the limits of his body and begs for it to hold out for him just a little bit longer._

_He has to make it._

_His vision is filling with blaring red alerts: overheating, dangerously accelerated pulse rate, dangerous levels of physical strain in pretty much all his leg parts, emergency maintenance recommended…_

_He doesn’t have the time to care about any of that._

_“2B, 2B, 2B….”_

_He arrives at the wooden bridge he’s crossed so many times with 2B on their missions in the Forest Kingdom._

_He can see her familiar silhouette on the other side of the bridge and he sighs in relief as he finally allows his legs to slow down._

_“2B, are you---!”_

_Sword. 2B’s sword. Red…. -oil… *noise*_

_2B. No. No. NO!_

_Her face. Her eyes. She smiles._

_“Oh… Nines.”_

_Eyes close. Falling._

_2B is dead._

_2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2-------_

_He can feel the pain signals from his throat, but he can’t hear his scream over the noise in his systems._

_____

Waking up to your own screaming, 9S decides, is the least fun way to wake up in the morning. His body is covered in cold sweat and his heart is still racing as if it was trying escape his chest. He sits up and forces himself to focus on just breathing for a moment to calm himself down. He reflexively closes his eyes as he tries to take in a deep breath, but the second he does so, his brain paints him a white-haired woman with a sword stabbed through her.

Maybe he will just keep his eyes open then.

After a moment, his heart reaches a nearly healthy pulse rate. Now that he’s not that worried about having a heart attack, he reaches to his phone lying on the nightstand beside his bed. His hand is shaking.

_07:28_

Nothing is quite as frustrating as waking up just a couple minutes before your alarm, but maybe in this case it wasn’t the worst; there’s no way he would have been able to go back to sleep after a dream like that anyway. Now he only ended up losing two minutes of sleep rather than two hours.

He cancels the alarm before it has a chance to ring and lets the back of his head fall back on the pillow.

“That was new.”

He was more used to dying in his dreams and up until now, he had thought that those dreams were the worst thing anyone’s subconscious could bully their owner with.

Now he feels like he would rather die in his dreams three times every night than experience this particular dream ever again.

After staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, he gets up from his bed, ruffles his white hair in place and sighs. Time to make breakfast, although 9S wonders if he will just end up throwing up anything he manages to get down.

Maybe he will just pack a bigger lunch.

_____

“9S!”

9S can already see the school gates when he hears a familiar voice calling for him and turns his head his head around. 9S lazily raises his own hand in greeting.

“Hi.”

Noticing his friend’s apathetic mood, 4S tilts his head a bit in concern.

“You look depressed. Did you have one of those robot dreams again?”

“… Yeah. It was a new one but I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

“Alright. How was your summer?”

“It was alright. Went to see my family and all for a couple of weeks, too bad our schedules clashed a bit there.”

Simple conversation with a friend is a welcome distraction to 9S and he manages to muster up a smile while listening to his friend talk about meeting his online girlfriend for the first time. She was an older, apparently very attractive girl that sounded way out of 4S’ league (his words, not 9S’) and she recently moved to the States. Many of the red-flag signs of a catfish were there, but she agreed to meet him once before moving across the ocean and apparently all went well. To think that she was real. Good for him.

… Anyway.

Shaking his head a bit to get out of the sea of self-pity, 9S tries to refocus his attention on his friend as they pass the school gates. However, he is frozen still by what he sees.

A girl with hair as white as the first snow or the lily flowers cut into a neat and very pretty bob-cut. Her back is facing him as she talks to one of the teachers.

There’s no way…

“9S? What is it- oh, she’s pretty.”

The teacher leads the girl into the school building and this causes her to finally reveal her profile to 9S.

He knows that face, he has been dreaming about it almost every night since he was 10. There’s no mistaking it.

2B is real.

“I…”

His entire body feels shaky and the onslaught of emotions makes him feel like he might burst. His heart is beating so loud it’s almost annoying in his ears and briefly he wonders if she can hear it all the way over there. Doesn’t seem like it though, as she disappears into the building without as much as a glance his way.

4S studies his face with his green eyes and says with both concern and amusement,

“… Look, 9S, I know that she was very pretty, but crying about it is still a bit of an overkill, don’t you think?”

“Wha-? Oh, shit.”

9S quickly wipes the tears streaming down his cheeks for the second time that morning and resists the urge to scream her name and run after her.

Good thing she didn’t notice him. That would have been pretty lame.

He wonders if she will cry too when she sees him.

He barely notices the way the corners of his lips twitch upwards. 4S does though, but doesn’t mention it, or anything else for that matter.

They make their way to their classroom in silence, with 9S trying to be subtle (but miserably failing to do so) while he scans the halls with his eyes, trying to catch another glimpse of the white-haired girl of his- _from_ his dreams.

Well, both fit anyway.

Unfortunately, they arrive at their classroom without catching another sight of her. 9S was considering going “to the bathroom” to wander the halls to see which class she was in when the school bells interrupt his scouting mission before it even had a chance to start. 9S begrudgingly makes his way to his seat next to the window, middle of the row.

Most days he appreciated having the window seat and having the privilege to be right in front of the gentle breeze from the open window. He did not appreciate it right now though, with the hot early September sun blaring right on him. At least the air conditioning was working properly for once, maybe they fixed it during the summer break, so he wasn’t in a danger of dying of a heat stroke.

The brightness of the sun rays makes it next to impossible to look outside while he thinks, which is slightly annoying. He really needs to think.

To be precise, he needs to think of a plan.

9S isn’t paying any attention whatsoever during homeroom. Should he go looking around right after homeroom? There’s only a five-minute break; if he waits until after the first class, he gets ten minutes.

Maybe he shouldn’t rush; five minutes sounds like too little time for a reunion like this. He’s fine skipping class or the entire school day to catch up with the girl he has been in love with for years, possibly for an entire other lifetime. Yet, he doubts she would agree; she was always so serious about protecting rules, after all.

He’ll wait until after the first class then. Ten minutes may be a little better, even if that doesn’t sound like nearly enough either.

Alright. Now that he settled on a time, it’s time to think about what he should say.

_“I’m so happy to see you, 2B!”_

_“I’ve been waiting for years to meet you again, 2B!”_

_“I always knew you were real, 2B!”_

_“I missed you, 2B!”_

_“2B, do you remember me?”_

… What if she doesn’t remember him?

The thought makes his chest squeeze. He had been too exhilarated to think about the possibility that 2B might not have any idea who he is. Hell, she might not even be called 2B. There’s no guarantee that any of the things he dreams about ever happened, no matter how real and nostalgic they feel.

The fact that he’s convinced the experiences in his dreams are real doesn’t necessarily make them real.

He notices the homeroom is over when everyone around him starts moving, going to the lockers at the back of the class to get the books for the following math class. He doesn’t register 4S approaching him until he speaks to him.

“Transfer students are pretty rare in the middle of a school year, huh.”

“Yeah… Do you know what class she was transferred into?”

“Sorry, no idea. She looked a bit older though, maybe a second-year student? We could ask 6O-senpai on the next break?”

“That might be a good place to start.”

“… So, what’s the deal?”

“What deal?”

“With you and the new transfer student. The crying at the sight-“

“Shh! Can you not?!”

9S hisses out embarrassed and 4S doesn’t bother hiding his amusement.

“Do you know her?”

“… I’m pretty sure it’s _her_ …”

“ _Her_ as in...?”

9S lowers his voice so that hopefully, the people thinking he’s crazy will still be limited to 4S only.

“You know… The girl in the dreams.”

4S’s green eyes widen and his mouth slips out a small ‘oh’.

“And you’re sure?”

“Pretty sure.”

4S folds his arms over his chest while 9S avoids direct eye contact by studying the features of his desk.

“Are you sure it’s not just wishful thinking? I mean, she was very good looking, maybe-“

“I know it’s her, alright? You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to but you can keep it to yourself.”

9S spits out, obviously frustrated with the exchange.

“… Sorry.”

The air around them feels heavy and 4S sighs and attempts to lighten it a bit.

“I’ll help you look.”

9S finally looks up at him, surprised.

“You would look suspicious snooping around the halls around alone anyway.”

The bell chimes 4S gives him a small wave as he turns his back to 9S to make his way to his own seat. 9S considers throwing his book at it.

 _Shit_ , his books!

He takes the leap and rushes to his locker to get out his books in hopes of making it before the teacher arrives. The stars align and he sits down approximately half a second before the teacher walks in and manages to avoid being scolded.

Back to thinking about 2B.

He ends up getting scolded anyway for not paying attention.

_____

The second the teacher finishes the class, 9S jumps out of his chair and heads for the door in the back of the classroom (he didn’t want to offend the teacher any further by pushing past him out of the door at the front). 4S was following close behind by sheer luck; his seat is right next to the back door and he barely had the time to get up when 9S was already running past him.

The floor above theirs has all the second-year classrooms and 9S shoots up the stairs like the floor was lava, with 4S jogging behind in a more controlled manner, as he still had some care for appearances left.

They look in to two classrooms in the passing as they reach the class they were heading to: 2-3. 6O, their senpai from the computer club was in this class and with her bubbly personality and love for gossip, she was their best bet to find out something about the new transfer student. Just as they look into the classroom, they hear a voice right behind them.

“Oya, did you come sneak a peek at the new transfer student too?”

“Yes.” “No.”

801S quirks his eyebrow.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about 9S, I heard she was gorgeous. I’m a little surprised though, you never seem to care about these kinds of things.”

“We saw her earlier in the morning and 9S cried.”

801S snorts while 9S flushes red and abuses 4S’ side with his elbow.

“4S! Do you really need to tell that to everyone?”

“Just 801S, maybe 6O-senpai.”

“Why are-“

“What about me?”

All of the boys had been too distracted in their own brief banter to notice 6O approaching and they all turn around to look at her.

All of them quickly forget about 6O though, as the rumored new transfer student was standing on her right. Her expression didn’t give away any emotions, but her head was tilted slightly left in a manner that could be interpreted as slight confusion.

That was the cutest thing 9S had ever witnessed in the 16 years of his life and it took his everything not to gush.

“Good morning, 6O-senpai. We heard that there was a new transfer student and we wondered if you knew anything about it. Seems like we came to the right place.”

4S helpfully decides to give 6O the status update of their circumstances while 9S tries to remember how people normally breathe. 6O breaks into a wide smile and suddenly hugs the new girl.

“Oh, you sure did! 2B is actually an old friend of mine and was lucky enough to be transferred into the same class as me! 2B, these boys are from the computer club, they’re all first-years and my precious kouhais so be nice!”

2B’s eyes widen in surprise about the sudden physical contact but she doesn’t seem upset. 6O lets go of her after one tight squeeze.

“Hello. I’m 801S, class 1-6.”

801S reaches out his hand towards 2B and after a second of hesitation of the strange means of greeting, she reaches out to shake his hand.

“I’m 2B, nice to meet you.”

Meanwhile 4S opts for a more traditional small bow before introducing himself.

“Good morning, 2B-senpai. I’m 4S, class 1-1. Same as 9S here.”

2B nods back with a ‘nice to meet you’ and turns to finally meet 9S’ eyes expectantly.

Nothing about her expression or demeanor changes at the sight of him in comparison to the other two boys. A dreadful realization twists 9S’ gut and he feels cold sweeping through his entire body.

She doesn’t recognize him.

The girl he is already desperately in love with and who he has gone through so much with in his dreams has no idea who he is.

He feels like her blue eyes are stabbing a frozen sword right through his heart and he wants nothing but to crumble to the floor and cry.

This might be more painful than the dreams where she literally rams her sword through him.

9S is brought back to this plane of existence with 60’s concerned “9S, are you okay?”

He blinks and notices the two girls looking at him with a puzzled, concerned expression and he shakes his head and forces a smile.

“Ah, sorry, didn’t sleep too well last night so I may have been zoning out a bit.”

He scratches the back of his head and turns to look at 2B again with a small bow.

“Nice to meet you 2B-senpai. My name is 9S.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Will you be joining our computer club too?” 801S asks.

6O laughs and answers for 2B.

“Haha, no way! 2B can barely turn a computer on. She’s going to join the kendo club, she’s-“

Bell chimes interrupt 6O.

“Ah, gotta go, see you later!”

“See you!”

The girls walk into their class while the boys sprint back to theirs.

_____

“… Are you okay?”

4S had borrowed the chair from the person sitting in front of 9S to eat together at 9S’ desk. Or well, at least 4S was eating; 9S was doing something that looked more like playing flipper with a cherry tomato, poking it around the half empty lunch box with his chopsticks.

“… Yeah.”

He knows 9S is the kind of person that will talk if he wants to. In fact, most days he is too busy talking that he has to devour most of his lunch in rush during the last couple of minutes before the lunch break ends. The fact that he isn’t talking now tells 4S that he probably shouldn’t try to press 9S, even if he’s a little concerned and only means well.

“… Okay.”

The classroom around them is abuzz with chatter about the latest popular series and the rumors of the new second-year transfer student babe and speculations about what club she will be joining and whether or not she already has a boyfriend and how it doesn’t really matter because she’s _way_ out of league for all of them anyway.

4S smiles a little when he sees 9S finally picking up the abused tomato and putting it in his mouth before nibbling on maybe two grains of rice. Better than nothing, 4S thinks, as he looks out of the window.

“Hmm. The weather report did say it would rain today but morning was so sunny I thought maybe they got it wrong. It’s really starting to cloud up now though.”

9S turns lazily to look out at the sky.

“Seems so.”

“Good thing I brought my umbrella anyway. Do you have yours?”

“Yeah.”

They don’t say anything more after that while they eat, but 9S takes a little comfort in his friend’s presence regardless, not that he would say it out loud. Good thing 4S knows without saying.

_____

The fact that 2B doesn’t seem to know him hurts. He did think about the possibility of that being the case, but he really wanted to believe that it wouldn’t come to this. The bond they share in his dreams of the past life or parallel world or whatever was strong enough for him to remember her.

He can’t help but wonder if it was more one-sided than he had thought.

Yet, as much as it hurts, there is still nothing he wants more than to be with her.

The world he fell in love with her – over and over again – was an awful dystopia where they had no freedom to do as they pleased. Emotions were prohibited (that seemed to be her favorite line); he wasn’t allowed to express his adoration and although he slipped here and there, 2B would keep a poker face at all times. She was serious like that.

The only times she would show her emotions was when someone hurt him or when she killed him herself.

She had done that so many times in his dreams; that was her duty, he had learned. She was created to kill him whenever he stumbled unto information he was not allowed to possess.

She would cry every time after the first two kills. She would cry for him even when he would fight back and try to kill her instead. She always won and his last view of the world would be tears streaming down from under her visor and the last thing he would hear would be a teary apology whispered into his ear.

But this time, they are free. Even if it hurts like hell not to be remembered by someone you care about so much, he can’t let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He won’t.

He needs to find a way to get close to her.

9S is sensible enough to realize that anyone with common sense would run away screaming if a stranger told them that they dreamed of them all the time and that they were in love in another lifetime. Telling her the truth about why he wants to be with her is out of question. He will have to build their relationship as if he’s never met her before either.

Friendship is a good foundation for a relationship, so 9S decides he will become her friend first. According to 6O, she won’t be joining their club but the kendo club, so bonding through club activities isn’t an option. He can’t really suddenly join kendo out of the blue without it being mighty suspicious, especially since he has no idea how to do kendo. Maybe he could ask 6O for help, she always likes anything remotely romantic and has been bugging him about making a girlfriend anyway. Who knows, she might be just crazy enough to swoon over his dream story rather than help 2B file for a restraining order. Not that he wants to tell her; that’s the plan Z if absolutely nothing else has a chance of working out.

9S is dragged out of his thoughts with the sudden noise of heavy rain pouring outside. He glances at the clock.

15:57. Almost done with the day. There’s club but he’s going to skip today, 4S can explain it to 21O.

… He’s going to tell 21O the crying story too, isn’t he?

Ugh. Fine. The embarrassment is still more tolerable than 21O ripping him a new one for skipping club again. He’s had enough to deal with today, the ripping can wait until tomorrow.

He can only pray that 4S has more sense in him than to share it with 6O now that he knows she’s friends with 2B.

The bells ring and 9S gathers his things and tells 4S he’s going straight home, to which 4S just nods, understanding.

9S makes his way to the main doors and the sound of rain is almost deafening. If he didn’t know any better, he would guess it was the monsoon season. He stops to open his umbrella while other students pass him buy with their raincoats or opening their umbrellas as they keep walking. A few students are waiting under the small covered are in front of the main entrance with their eyes glued to their phones while they wait for a ride home.

9S doesn’t hate rain, he actually quite enjoys the sound of it and the feeling of the warm summer rain hitting his skin, provided he can get out of it whenever he wants. What he doesn’t like though, is walking with wet shoes, so he hopes his manages to avoid stepping into any puddles.

He’s preparing to take his first step into the rain when he registers someone stopping next to him.

The corner of his eye catches a glimpse of white and he immediately turns around.

“Oh, 2B-senpai!”

“… Oh. 9S, was it?”

Ouch. He hides everything he’s feeling behind a polite smile.

“It’s really pouring, huh. Are you waiting for a ride home?”

2B look away from him and shifts her feet.

“No, I live alone.”

“Oh, I see.”

2B keeps standing still and stares into the rain while lightly scrunching her eyebrows.

“… Could it be that you forgot your umbrella?”

“… Maybe.”

“You can have mine!”

9S says without thinking with a bit more volume than he intended to and almost shoves the umbrella handle to her face. 2B looks puzzled.

“Then what will you do?”

“Oh, uh… I’ll make a run for it I guess.”

He lets out an awkward laugh and scratches the side of his face with a finger.

“Thank you, but I can’t accept it in that case.”

“I see…”

He honestly doesn’t mind soaking in the rain and spending the rest of the day blow drying his drenched text books in the slightest if that’s what it takes to help 2B, but of course 2B wouldn’t like anyone sacrificing themselves for her sake.

Wait. This is a golden opportunity if he’s ever seen one.

“Oh, there’s a convenience store right around the corner! I’m pretty sure they sell umbrellas there, and if they’re out, there should at least be some one-time use raincoats left! I can take you there if you’d like?”

“Sure, I’d appreciate it.”

She smiles at him.

It is small and it disappears as soon as she gets under his umbrella and turns to face forward but it was there.

9S feels like flying and he feels his cheeks grow warm.

He almost never sees that in his dreams and even then it’s never combined with direct eye contact.

The only time in his dreams that that happened was last night in the dream where…

He had almost forgotten about the dream with the array of emotions caused by actually seeing 2B in person for the first time.

He doesn’t want to think about it, especially now that 2B is alive and well sharing his umbrella as they make their way to the convenience store.

They have to stand close to each other to fit under the umbrella, close enough for her arm to brush against his and he can feel the body warmth emanating from her. She smells nice and he wonders if that is because of a shampoo, a fragrance or simply just her.

2B is actually a bit shorter than he remembers, maybe only a centimeter taller than him. That’s an odd detail different from his dreams, until he remembers that 2B always wears heels in the dreams, while now she’s only wearing the flat shoes dictated by the school dress code.

That’s kind of nice, makes sharing the umbrella a whole lot easier than it would be with the height difference he was expecting.

9S can feel his shoulder get wet as he keeps tilting the umbrella more on her side.

“So, how do you know 6O-senpai?”

“We were in the class in elementary school.”

“A childhood friend, huh? That sounds nice.”

He wonders if 6O has any childhood pictures of 2B she could show him sometime.

2B doesn’t seem to be an expert when it comes to small talk (no surprise there) so 9S tries to keep the conversation going.

It might be a risky move but he can’t help himself.

“Also, um. I actually thought you looked familiar when we were introduced earlier. Is there a chance we have met before?”

2B turns to look at him.

“No, we haven’t met. Although I have seen you before.”

9S stops and his pulse is ringing in his ears. He swallows and puts his best effort into not having his voice waver when he asks,

“Oh, where?”

“I’ve seen you in the background of some of the pictures 6O sent me. Maybe that’s why you thought I looked familiar too, she has probably shown you some photos too.”

She has the most neutral deadpan look on her face that one can imagine, completely oblivious to the emotional torture she’s putting 9S through.

“Oh, that might be it, haha…”

The laughter comes out weak but at least 2B doesn’t seem to notice. Or maybe she just doesn’t care.

Either case, he’s not sure if he’s relieved or further saddened by it.

Thankfully, they arrive at the convenience store before 9S is pushed through more soul stabbing. He gestures 2B to go in first while he closes his umbrella.

The air in the convenience store is easier to breathe than the humid summer rain air outside.

“Here we are. The umbrellas should be around here.”

2B follows him as he makes his way to the back of the small store. 2B’s eyes run over the selection of umbrellas in six different patterns.

“Hmm. They don’t have the clear ones.”

“Oh, you like those?”

“Yeah. I don’t know which one to choose if there’s too many different patterns.” The way her brows scrunch as she carefully considers the different options like she was deciding something much more important than picking out an 800-yen umbrella is adorable.

“I see… How about this one?” 9S picks out a pale blue umbrella with a one large daisy in the middle and holds it out for 2B. She takes it and tilts her head, the line between her brows gone.

“It’s nice… I like it.”

She makes one of those small smiles towards the umbrella.

“I’m glad. I think would suit you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uh… Well, the blue goes with your eyes and the daisy was pretty too, so…”

He busies his eyes with looking at the opposite isle where the store keeps batteries and other fascinating items. He is definitely blushing and he just hopes 2B is oblivious enough to think he’s hot or something.

“… I see. I’ll buy it. I need to get some food too while I’m here.”

“Ah, I actually want to buy something to drink too.”

9S notices 2B eventually picking a microwave katsudon meal (she seemed torn between the variety of options again) while he picks out a can of iced coffee. He pretends to look at the snacks until 2B goes to the register. He makes a beeline to the register to make sure he’s the next one in line behind her.

She has great posture. Maybe they are actually the same height but she just holds herself up better than he does. He does spend a lot of time on computers, he might be slouching a little. Self-conscious, he makes a conscious effort to stand up straighter. He adjusts his bag and feels the wetness on his shoulder again from before.

He notices 2B’s shoulders look dry, no discoloration on the dark blue blazer. It’s a silly thing to be proud of but 9S is proud of managing to keep her dry regardless.

The two teens wearing the same school uniform as they finally leave the register and 2B makes her purchases, with 9S going right after her. While paying for his coffee, he watches as she walks out through the automatic glass doors without a single glance back his way. Guess she doesn’t need his company anymore. His heart breaks a little.

That is, until he gets out and 2B is waiting for him outside. 9S can’t help smiling wide as he says,

“You didn’t have to wait for me!”

“I did. I forgot to thank you for helping me.”

2B is an angel and no one can convince him otherwise.

The umbrella really does match her eyes.

“It was no problem, I needed to come here anyway.”

“For an ice coffee? Vending machines are full of them.”

“They don’t sell this brand in the vending machines.”

“I see.”

They are silent for a moment while the rain keeps pouring down.

“What way are you going from here?”

2B points to the direction they were coming from.

“Really? I live that way too. Want to walk together for a while then?”

“Sure.”

She smiles at him again and it makes his chest feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy. He reciprocates with his entire face before they start walking.

“So, you live alone too, huh.”

“Too?”

“I actually live alone too. I’ve never met another high school student that lives on their own.”

“Oh. Why do you live alone? Aren’t you just 15?”

“16, actually, my birthday was in June. But I grew up in the countryside and they only had one school that had both the elementary and the middle school in one building and total of maybe 55 students. No high school, so I had to move out of home if I ever wanted to get a high school diploma.”

  
“My grades were good so my teacher told me that instead of the closest boarding school, I could apply for some more prestigious high schools in the capital area, and so I did. I always wanted to live in a big city anyway. I got accepted into a few different ones, one even had a dorm, but a senpai from my home town and one of my online friends were going to this one, so I decided to come here. Renting an apartment is a bit more expensive than a dorm would be, but the semester fees of this school were also tiny bit less than my other options so I figured it evens out.”

“Don’t your parents pay all of that for you?”

“I mean, they said they will. But my family isn’t exactly wealthy, so I don’t want to burden them any more than I have to. I actually have a part-time job so I can make it a little easier on them. I can pay for my own food and part of my rent with my own money.”

“That’s impressive…”

Validation from the person that matters the most in the world for him feels good.

“I-it’s not that big of a deal, really.”

“I think it’s impressive. Moving out on your own so young, having a part-time job to provide for yourself while you’re going to school and participating in club activities too. I think it’s very admirable.”

The words of praise start patching up the wounds left in his soul by all the events that had taken place earlier that day.

“Thank you…”

He doesn’t say anything for a minute or two after that. He’s not the best with silence though, and there’s so much he wants to know about this living, breathing, not-dream 2B.

“Why do you live alone, if you don’t mind me asking?”

2B glances down at her shoes.

“My family moved to America this summer because of my father’s career. I wanted to stay in Japan to finish high school and to keep practicing kendo, so I asked if I could stay behind.”

“Is that why you transferred schools too?”

“Yeah. I could have stayed in my old school, but when I told 6O about the situation she was begging me to try to get transferred here so that we could go to the same school again. So, I did, and they accepted me.”

“I see. Why didn’t you come here in the first place if you wanted to go to the same school as 6O?”

“I was scouted to the other school for my kendo skills. The school is famous for their kendo club and they are always at the national championships. I didn’t think my grades would be good enough for this one anyway.”

“Oh. The kendo club here isn’t too big from what I hear, I don’t think they even practice every day. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah. That’s why they accepted me, they are expecting me to bring them success in the regionals this year.”

“But if kendo is something you’re good at, wouldn’t it be better to pursue it in a more ambitious environment?”

“I’m fine.”

The words come out with poorly hidden bite and 9S decides to not push the topic any further, even if he still doesn’t quite understand her reasoning.

They keep making light conversation as they walk, although 9S is the one doing most of the talking while 2B responds in small ‘I see’s and hums.

After 25 minutes or so, they reach a reddish brown apartment building and 9S points at it.

“Ah, this is where I live. I can walk you home though, if you’d like. I’m not in a rush or anything.”

2B turns to look at him with eyes slightly wide in surprise.

“Really? I live here too.”

“No way! What a coincidence! Which floor?

“5th.”

“I’m on 3rd. Looks like we’re neighbours then!”

9S whispers thanks in his mind to all the gods that made this happen while he beams with happiness at 2B. 2B returns the gesture.

“Seems so.”

They say their goodbyes at the 3rd floor of the staircase and 9S makes his way into his apartment. His hands shake a little as he jumbles with his keys but manages to open the door without an issue. He walks in, closes the door behind him, leans his back against it and slides down on the floor.

The exhaustion from the emotional roller coaster that was today in combination with the fact that he’s eaten next to nothing all day is finally catching up to him.

Knowing that 2B is just two floors above him makes his heart flutter and hard to relax even on the brink of passing out.

He digs out the ice coffee from his bag and drinks half of it before sluggishly getting up.

Time to eat something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really talk about their school uniforms, but here's a link to what I was thinking of: https://data.tokyogirlsupdate.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/hottest-seifuku-boysngirls-02.jpg
> 
> The boys have ties instead of ribbons and the pants have the same pattern as the skirt.


	2. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cliché number two coming in hot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think of Natsuki Hanae’s song “Seishun wa zankoku janai (Youth isn’t cruel)” as a good theme song for this fic. The lyrics fit pretty good and of course, it’s 9S’ Japanese voice actor singing it so it’s perfect by default.

Sleep didn’t come easy to 9S that night. You’d think after as tiring of a day as 9S had just had, he wouldn’t have any problem falling asleep. Indeed, he finally gives up on the losing battle against his eyelids a little before 11pm (early by his standards) and flops down on his bed.

Yet, the second his head hits the pillow, he suddenly feels wide awake again. Shutting his eyes makes him relive every expression he had seen from 2B that day. The way her head tilted adorably when she was confused, the struggling expression when picking out dinner from the store, the surprised expression when they discovered they lived in the same building…

And the smiles. _Oh god_ , the smiles.

2B’s smile is so _precious_.

It was always subtle, reserved even; just a tiny quirk of those small lips of hers. Whenever her lips would quirk her eyes would smile along, her eyelids falling slightly, so slightly that you might miss it if you didn’t pay attention.

9S did pay attention, at least when it came to 2B. However, it proved somewhat difficult to watch her smile for too long. Not that he didn’t want to, he could replace his TV with a picture of 2B smiling and that would provide him with more entertainment than the old TV ever did.

It was just that 2B’s smile was too… bright. It was like looking directly into the sun; it was so bright it blinded 9S in a matter of seconds, and he needed to look away before he combusted or passed out from the overdose of the warmth spreading through his entire body. And just like after looking at the sun, the light of 2B’s smile was burned into his corneas so that whenever he would close his eyes, he would see it again.

She was so beautiful. 9S still can’t believe she really exists.

He rolled over on his stomach and buried his face into his pillow, hoping that the pillow would help take off some of the heat from his burning face. It did help a little. Breathing through a pillow is tricky and the lack of oxygen helped him calm himself down as an additional effect. Unfortunately, his calm head seems to have a tendency for more somber line of thinking than his lovestruck head.

This 2B smiled a whole lot more than the 2B in his dreams.

Sure, maybe 2B didn’t smile as much in his dreams because emotions were prohibited in that world (as she often liked to remind him). Yet 9S has never seen a dream where he was actually punished for expressing them aside from a small scolding comment (usually from 2B), even though he expressed them a lot in the end. 9S can’t really pinpoint any other faces or names of the other fellow _androids_ (his dreams tended to be very 2B-centered) but he felt like most of them did express emotions too to some degree at least. 2B didn’t, or at least she tried to keep them to herself the best she could. Then again, her duty was probably the cruelest of them all, and perhaps emotions just made it that much worse for her. Maybe she didn’t want emotions to distract herself from completing her _duty_. Maybe the nature of her duty made her grow numb to emotions. Or maybe the emotions simply hurt her so much that she had taken a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ kind of approach, hoping that by pretending to not have any emotions would eventually make them go away.

The fact that this 2B smiles more implies that this 2B has had a better life than the 2B he knew in another place, another time. Not that it would take much, honestly. This 2B has friends, or a friend at least. She seems to have a family that supports her. She’s allowed to have her own interests and from the sound of it, she’s excelling in at least one of them. She has always had food to eat and a place to sleep peacefully. This 2B wasn’t born to fight a hopeless war and to be destined to die at the end of it regardless of the outcome. This 2B has always been free and has never needed to kill anyone, neither enemies or allies.

This 2B must be happy, or at least happier than his dream 2B.

Some twisted part of him hates it.

Why is he the only one of them that has to shoulder the burden of their painful memories? Why is he the only one who remembers all the beautiful times they shared? Why is he the one left dealing with the pain of their past existence while 2B gets to go on about her life completely oblivious to all of it? Why has he been desperately praying to meet her again for years while she would have been just as fine never having met him in the first place?

It’s unfair, it hurts. 9S feels like 2B has left him behind, even though he knows it’s unreasonable.

He wants her to remember everything too. He wants her to share his pain, he wants her to share her pain with him. He wants her to apologize for all the horrible things she had done to him and he wants to apologize to her for all the times he hurt her intentionally or unintentionally. He wants to cry with her. He wants her to need him as much as he needs her.

9S knows it’s all incredibly selfish and feeling like this disgusts him.

He cares for 2B, hell, he loves her much more than he’s ever loved anything. He wants to make her smile everyday until the day he dies and to make her the happiest person that ever lived or ever will. He wants to shield her from any pain, which is why another part of him (the part him that he prefers) is grateful that 2B doesn’t seem to remember any of the awful things she had to suffer through in another lifetime. Nobody deserved what they had to go through and now this 2B has been blessed with redemption and an opportunity to start fresh without the burden of her past trauma or sins.

9S doesn’t know which 2B he wants more; the one that remembers or the one that is happy and blissfully ignorant of their miserable history.

2B’s smile reappears in his mind. It’s so sweet he feels tears prickling his eyes.

9S knows that he wants 2B more than he has ever wanted anything in his life before, or in his other life for that matter. As long as he has 2B, he can probably live an overall happy life too. Even if she doesn’t remember or she doesn’t need 9S the same way he needs her, 9S wants to have 2B at his side. Even if being with her would serve as a constant, painful reminder of how she has unknowingly left him behind, again. He’s had some experience from being hurt by her already from his dreams, he can take it again.

_“Oh… Nines...”_

… After all, a life without 2B would hurt so much more.

_____

9S’ thoughts ended up keeping him awake for hours before he finally managed to drift off. At least the dream had been a pleasant one this time. It was another memory involving 2B, one where her hair is luminous in the moonlight and where she smiles and calls him ‘Nines’ for the first time. She seems proud of herself; she had come up with the nickname herself and clearly enjoyed the reaction it drew from him, although she tries to hide it.

That’s why when 9S’ alarm had gone off and rudely interrupted his happiness, he quickly pressed ‘snooze’ and tried to fall back asleep to enjoy the dream for a little while longer.

He did manage to fall back asleep, but the fleeting memory was long gone, instead replaced with dreamless sleep that still proved efficient in allowing his mind and body to truly rest. A little too efficient, because when he wakes up again and checks his phone, he realizes he has been sleeping for over an hour instead of the five-minute snooze. Maybe in his sleepy daze he had accidentally turned it off rather than just snoozed it, or maybe he had just been in too deep of a sleep to even hear it.

9S may never know what exactly had happened with his alarm, but he does know that at this rate he will be late for school. It’s 8:51, school starts at 9:00 and it’s a little over a 20-minute walk from his apartment.

Maybe he can make it if he runs the entire way. He wants to avoid his teacher calling and complaining about him to his parents. It would just make them worried over nothing and his mom would probably keep calling him every day to make sure everything is okay. 9S loves his mother but she has a tendency to worry too much over her only son. Reassuring her that he’s perfectly fine is a lengthy process that he would rather not deal with right now.

9S multitasks by brushing his teeth while he hurriedly puts on his school uniform. He decides he can do the belt and tie while running and it’s too hot to wear the blazer anyway. Once he’s wearing both pants and a shirt, he goes and spits out the toothpaste and throws the toothbrush into the general direction of the sink. He grabs his bag on his way out and hopes he remembered to pack all the books he needs last night before sprinting out of his apartment.

The school bells are loud, and anyone within a 400-meter radius can hear them. 9S doesn’t hear them as he approaches the school, and guesses he already missed the start of the homeroom; he doesn’t really have time to stop and check his phone to confirm his suspicions. Nevertheless, he’s hoping to still make it by the end of the homeroom so that he has a chance to beg for forgiveness from his HR teacher before she calls his mom.

9S wouldn’t describe himself athletic by any standards really. He performs average in gym class and doesn’t really practice any exercise on his free time, which he now bitterly regrets as his legs start hurting. By the time he sees the school gates, he’s panting, his legs are forcibly slowing down, and the worry of being late is replaced with joy of almost being done running.

… Until he collides with something as he’s trying to run through the school gates and he feels himself falling on the ground.

The first thing his now disoriented mind registers is the sound of a small puff of air escaping from the soft thing he collides with.

Second thing is the school bells ringing.

Third and final is 2B’s widened blue eyes staring up at him.

It all happened so fast 9S isn’t sure which knocked the air out of him; the collision itself or the shock of finding himself on top of 2B like this.

It takes a few blinks for the reality to settle in and for him to function properly again.

Oh god.

_Oh god._

“O-oh god, I-I’m _so_ sorry, 2B-senpai! Are you hurt?!”

He lifts himself up on his hands and knees and looks for any signs of injuries on 2B. She’s wearing her gym clothes, a white shirt and navy blue shorts, and while she still looks confused by the situation too, she seems fine physically.

“I think so. Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I think so. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not hurting anywhere, are you?”

“I told you I’m fine.”

The giggles from other girls in their gym clothes (who 9S hadn’t realized were there) makes 9S finally realize that he should probably not stay where he is, no matter how nice the view of 2B lying beneath him with her hair sprawled out on the ground is. He shakily gets off from on top her while repeating apologies like a mantra and tries to catch his breath between words. After being released, 2B gets up and brushes off the dust from her clothes and hair so nonchalantly it’s hard to believe she had just been tackled to the ground. Meanwhile 9S stays in a sitting position on the ground, too mortified to make any sudden movements. He doubts his shaky legs would hold his weight even if he did try standing up.

“Pfft-hahaha! 9S, your face…. Haha… It’s ridiculous… pff… You look like a namahage*! Hahaha!”

6O is holding her stomach while laughing whole-heartedly at his misery. 9S feels powerless to do anything but to cover embarrassing expression in his hands while he tries to pull himself together.

“6O…”

9S misses the disapproving look 2B shoots at 6O but hearing her voice makes him peek through his fingers to look up at her. 6O along with the other girls stop giggling and the crowd disperses as the rest of the girls begin heading out to their gym class, leaving 9S, 2B and 6O behind.

2B watches the other students go before turning around and reaching her hand out towards 9S.

“You’re going to be late. Can you stand?”

“O-oh right!”

He accepts her hand and hoists himself up. His legs feel shaky, for multiple reasons, but at least they’re not betraying him now.

“Thanks… Y-you sure you’re not hurt?”

“You worry too much. Go to class.”

“Okay, I will. Sorry again! Bye!”

9S sprints into run again, stumbling a little but managing to avoid tripping over his own feet and disappears into the school building, leaving the two girls behind. 2B frowns as she watches him leave.

“He shouldn’t run in the hallways either, he’s just going bump into someone again and get hurt.”

“It’ll be fiiine, I’m sure 9S is sturdier than he looks. Everyone else is probably in class now too anyway, less targets to hit.”

“I guess.”

6O studies 2B’s face with a grin.

“… Did he get to second base?”

2B jolts and turns around to walk towards the direction the rest of their gym class went a moment ago.

“… Let’s go, we’re late now too.”

_____

In the end, 9S arrives to his first class a couple minutes late and with his homeroom teacher long gone. So much for all that then.

He feels the eyes of his classmates on him as he settles at his desk quietly. Thankfully, high school kids don’t actually care about someone being late, so they are soon distracted by trying to focus on getting an education and his tardiness is long forgotten. None of that really mattered all that much to 9S anyway. He was honestly still a little out of breath from all the running and he was too distracted by feeling sweaty and gross all over to focus on what his classmates were thinking about him.

The mental image of 2B lying beneath him was pretty distracting too.

Looking out of the window at the clouds and whatnot usually helps 9S to sort his thoughts so he lets his gaze wander beyond the window, only to discover that it wasn’t helpful at all.

2B was playing soccer on one of the school fields. 9S shouldn’t have been surprised; 2B had been wearing gym clothes after all, and all of the school sport fields are visible from this side of the school building. He’s smart, he really should’ve expected this.

How does 2B manage to look so elegant even when playing soccer? Who looks elegant while chasing a ball? How does that even work?

She’ pretty good at it too, it seems. 9S almost cheers out loud when she scores.

… Wait, this isn’t helping.

9S forces himself to pay attention to what the teacher is saying, and it proves to be a better distraction for the time being, even if he already knows most of the chemistry related things the teacher is teaching them now. Working out some formulas turns out to be even more efficient in distracting him from 2B, and for a moment in over a day, 9S feels like everything is back to normal again. By the time he finishes all the exercises for this and the next two chemistry classes, the class is almost over. He dares to peek out one more time.

Oh god, 2B is stretching. Of course, rest of the gym class is too, but 9S couldn’t honestly care less.

9S is all but transfixed by the curve of 2B’s body as she leans back to stretch her abs and he swallows. What is she doing to him?

Why is that _so hot_?

Unhelpfully, the back of his mind reminds him of the softness he felt pressing against his face when he fell on top of her earlier.

Nope. These thoughts are no good. Not good at all. Bad.

The school bells ring and bring him back from the dangerous line of thinking before he ends up in a very embarrassing state in front of all his classmates. The rumors of what took place earlier will probably spread too sooner or later, and it wouldn’t bode well with his reputation to be caught with a hard on right afterwards.

He takes a deep breath and feels his heart rate begin to calm down with an exhale. Thank god.

“Rare of you to oversleep.”

9S turns to look at 4S standing by his desk and eagerly grabs the opportunity for a solid distraction.

“Yeah, had a hard time sleeping. Not a big surprise there, huh?”

“Well, you did seem to have a rough day. Will you skip club today too?”

9S rubs his temples with his fingers.

“Nah, I’ll come. 21O is probably pissed enough that I skipped yesterday, I don’t want to make her any angrier than she already is.”

“She was pretty angry. The crying story helped a bit, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Gee, thanks. You’re so helpful as always. Does everyone just enjoy my misery?” 9S pouts.

“What do you mean?”

“6O-senpai was just laughing at my expense and calling me a namahage or something just now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“… No reason. I’m going to the bathroom.”

4S notices 9S’ cheeks redden as he pushes past him to leave the classroom. He shrugs to himself.

“I guess I’ll ask 6O-senpai later.”

_____

9S was starving by the time lunch break finally arrived. He had been in too much of a rush in the morning to eat anything or to pack himself a lunch (on top of that, he had eaten pretty poorly the day before), so he tells 4S that he’s going to go buy some from the canteen and that he’ll be right back.

To be honest, buying a hot lunch meal of the day and eating it at the cafeteria would be probably better value for money in comparison to the canteen shop, but 9S doesn’t particularly enjoy how loud and full the cafeteria always is. He picks a couple of small sandwiches, an onigiri and a bottle of green tea and takes his place at the back of the line to the register. When he is the next one in line, he reaches down to his pocket to dig out his wallet.

Except that it wasn’t there. He hurriedly feels around the rest of his pockets.

Seriously?!

He must have forgotten it in the morning when he was rushing to get to school.

“Next!”

Shit. This is embarrassing.

“Sorry, I, uh, I forgot my wallet, I-I’m just gonna go and ask my-“

“9S, is everything okay?”

Why? Whyyy?! As much as he loves her and wants to be with her, he would rather not have 2B here right now. Did gods bring her to his life simply to make her the prime witness to all the embarrassing moments of his life to come or something?

“It’s fine, I just forgot my wallet so-“

“I’ll pay. How much?”

The cashier starts scanning the things and 9S stares at 2B mouth agape.

“You really don’t have to do that!”

2B shakes her head and hands a bill to the cashier.

“It’s fine, take it as returning a favor.”

2B accepts the change and turns to leave. 9S hastily gathers up the lunch items in his arms and goes after her.

“What favor could you possibly need to return? A thanks for tackling you a couple hours ago?”

2B lifts of her eyebrow.

“This was for yesterday.”

“Oh… But that was really nothing, I was heading there anyway.”

She shrugs.

“Doesn’t change the fact that you did help me out.”

“If I hadn’t, I’m sure someone else would have a few minutes later.”

“Who knows. Maybe then I’d be paying for their lunch.”

9S notices her lips quirk ever so slightly upwards in an expression which might be the closest thing 2B can get to a teasing smile. It makes 9S forget all his counterarguments. What an unfair move.

“I’m going to go buy some lunch now too, 6O already lined up. Bye.”

“B-bye…”

When he finally sits down at his desk to eat with 4S, he realizes he never remembered to thank her.

_____

“Ooh, there he is! I told you he would come today!”

6O announces his arrival to 21O as 9S and 4S walk into the computer room. 9S puts on his most innocent smile and raises his hand in greeting.

“Hi.”

Judging by the glare 21O gives him, the smile didn’t work the way he had hoped. Oh well, it was a long shot anyway.

“How nice of you to join us, 9S.”

“Of course, you know I like hanging out with you 21O.”

“21O- _senpai_. You know our club is small, we can’t have one fifth of the club skipping. What if the teacher had come in?”

“C’mon, he never comes anyway. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think he’s ever been here on a Monday, I wonder if he’s an alcoholic or something? I’ve read alcoholics tend to skip work on Mondays. Besides, it was only one time, you could’ve just said that I had a migraine or something and he wouldn’t have thought twice about it.”

“Perhaps. You could still be more respectful to your clubmates and come and do your part of the activities unless there’s a good reason.”

“But I had a good-“

“Flirting is not good enough of a reason.”

9S almost chokes on his own spit.

“W-what?”

6O decides to pipe in with a lilting tone and a smile,

“I heard someone was rescued from the rain by a knight in shining armour and then escorted home.”

“Y-yeah, but how do you get flirting from that?! I had decided to skip club by the time I met 2B at the gates anyway because I really did sleep bad!”

“Hmm, you sure you just didn’t see her all helpless and decide to ditch us? A little birdie told me _someone_ has a thing for 2B already.”

Blushing, 9S turns to 4S who had silently sat down at one of the computers while they were bickering.

“You told 6O-senpai?!”

“I told you I would, why are you so surprised?”

“B-but-“

6O reaches to pat his shoulder with a kind smile.

“Don’t worry, 9S! Your secret is safe with me, I won’t tell 2B.”

“… You won’t?”

“Nope.”

Relief washes over 9S like an ocean wave.

“Thank you, you are the best!”

“I know. You should tell your hot co-worker that. And…”

9S frowns, having a feeling he will not like where this is going.

“Maybe, just maybe, you could give me her number as a thank you for guarding your secret?”

He winces.

“I told you, she will probably sue me if I give away her personal information and she would be completely entitled to do that. I can’t do that.”

“Is there really nothing you could do?” 6O pouts and after a moment, 9S sighs.

“… I guess I could tell you when she’s working sometime so you can come see her…”

“Really?! 9S, you are the best! I’ll promise to tell 2B only good things about you!”

9S suddenly feels much more comfortable about selling out his co-worker. 

801S is the last one to arrive at the last minute before their club activities officially start and they all settle down to work on their current project.

_____

“Time to go home, good job everyone!”

6O exclaims at 18:30 on dot and the rest of the club members repeat their thank yous as they turn off the computers and pack their stuff to leave. 9S had only been pretending to work for the last 10 minutes anyway, so he is at the door by the time the rest got up from their chairs. 6O had mentioned that 2B also had club activities on Tuesdays, so maybe he can catch her before she leaves and they could walk home together again.

Of course, he doesn’t want to come off as a stalker, so he politely pretends to look at his phone by his shoe locker for a solid 8 minutes (during which everyone in his computer club passes him, 6O even gives him an encouraging thumbs-up) before he notices 2B approaching with couple of other girls he assumed were also in the kendo club based on their gushing about 2B’s skills. 2B didn’t seem to notice him before disappearing behind another locker row and he figured it would be polite not to interrupt her chances of making new friends. However, he was too curious and morally flexible to not eavesdrop on the conversation a little, so he keeps his ears open while starts changing out of his school slippers.

“I can’t believe how cool you make kendo look, 2B-senpai! You can move so fast!”

“I know right? I’m so jealous, but I feel like watching 2B motivates me to practice kendo more too! Will you teach us some of your techniques?”

“Uh… I can try, but I don’t think I’m very good at teaching…”

“Well, either way I think I can learn something from just by watching! It’s so cool to have you in our club!”

“Thank you…”

2B’s embarrassed voice is cute. 9S wonders if she’s blushing from the compliments as he sits down to put on his shoes.

“By the way, 2B-senpai, do you have a boyfriend?”

His quickly leans his head back hear better but with more force than he intended to, causing him to hit the back of his head into the lockers right behind him. Thankfully, 2B and her fellow club members don’t seem to notice the small ‘thump’ it caused.

“No.”

The single word makes 9S relax and release the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He weakly rubs the back of his head.

The voices seem to be moving towards the main doors and 9S decides to stand up and get ready to greet 2B.

“Really? I was so sure someone as pretty as you would have a boyfriend already.”

“You didn’t have a boyfriend at the previous school?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“… I don’t know. I wasn’t interested in anyone.”

“You’ve never even had a crush?”

“… I don’t think so,” 2B answers, although she sounds kind of uncomfortable with the personal questions. The girls seem to notice that, and they shift on to goodbyes.

“Well, anyway, we should get going. Thanks for today! See you again tomorrow!”

“See you.”

To 9S’ pleasure, the girls head of to the opposite direction, which means he can have 2B all to himself for the whole way hopefully. He takes a couple of jogging steps towards her and calls out,

“2B-senpai! Heading home?”

“9S? You haven’t gone home yet?”

“No, I had computer club today.”

“Yes, but I thought you had all gone home already.”

“Well, the rest did a few minutes ago but I uh…”

2B tilts her head questioningly.

“I uh, realized I never remembered to thank you for lunch, so… Thank you,” 9S smiles sheepishly.

“That’s fine, I was returning a favor anyway. You didn’t need to wait for me for something like that.”

“Well, I just wanted to thank you anyway. Would you mind walking home together?”

“Not at all, let’s go,” 2B says with a small smile and they start walking side by side.

It’s already dark and the fluorescent light granted by street lights and the passing cars illuminate 2B’s face, giving her what 9S would describe as an ethereal look. As they are walking, 9S asks more things about 2B while sharing some things about himself too. He tells her he’s been fiddling with computers since he was in elementary school because there wasn’t too much to do in the middle of nowhere, that his favorite food is hotpot because you eat it with others and how his favorite subjects are biology and history but that he likes learning pretty much anything new really. He in return learns that 2B’s favorite foods include mackerel and curry rice, that she has a sister and that her favorite subject is music, which came as a surprise to 9S.

“Music? Do you play any instrument?”

“No. I’ve always wanted to play the violin though. I got to try it for a little while when I was young, but I showed much more promise in sports and kendo so my parents decided it would be best for me to dedicate my time into developing my strengths.”

“Eh… That’s too bad. I would love to hear you play.”

“I doubt it, I haven’t touched one since I was 8, I’m sure it would sound horrible.”

“Maybe you should start practicing again then.”

“… No, violin is apparently difficult to learn. I’m probably too old to learn to play it now,” 2B explains, and while she is hard to read as usual, 9S thinks she sounds a little sad and it tugs at his heartstrings.

“That’s not true, you’re never too old to learn! If it’s something you want to do, I really think you should go for it! You only have one life, might as well do the things you want to do.”

2B meets his eyes and studies his face for a moment before smiling a little and looking away into the distance.

“… Maybe.”

They are almost at their building when 2B stops at a crossroads.

“I need drop by at the supermarket over there,” she explains.

“Oh, I should actually buy some groceries too.”

9S takes a step to the direction of the store before 2B asks from behind him,

“Didn’t you forget your wallet this morning?”

Stupid wallet.

“… Right, I did.”

“Bye, 9S. See you around.”

“Bye, 2B-senpai.”

2B gives 9S a small wave before heading off while he reluctantly turns around to head home.

It’s silly. 9S was talking to her literally less than a minute ago (in fact, he could probably still see her if he turned around) and he already misses her. He wants to know everything about her. He wants to know superficial things like her favorite color, favorite kind of music, favorite past time activities. He wants to know personal things that he as a near stranger to her is not allowed to ask; her insecurities, her best memories, her feelings about her family, transferring schools, himself.

It’s nice listening to 2B talk. She has such a gentle voice. In his dreams he’s often the one doing most of the talking. Sure, now too she is mostly brief and usually very much to the point, but she hasn’t declined answering anything or particularly tried to push the talking on him. 2B didn’t seem too bothered by his quizzing and he really hopes she wasn’t. The last thing 9S wants to do would be to cause 2B displeasure of any kind. Being around her feels right and now that he’s gotten a taste of it, he wants to spend every minute with her. Would that be too much to ask?

9S sighs. He knows it is. To this 2B, he’s just a new acquaintance and he’s probably toeing the line of being overbearing already. Maybe if 2B remembered him too, she wouldn’t want to leave his side either.

A man can dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Here's a namahage: https://d20aeo683mqd6t.cloudfront.net/articles/title_images/000/002/561/original/2.What_E2_80_99s-Namahage-1.jpg?2017&d=750x400
> 
> A lot of the school related stuff will be inspired by my own personal experiences from when I did a high school exchange program in Japan. I don't know if canteen shops are common in Japanese high school, but mine had one and it ROCKED so these kiddos get to have one too.


	3. Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2B has a cold and 9S is there to take care of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, uni is a lot of work right now and I had to keep my priorities straight like a grown-up, sadly. I'm hopeful that it won't take me as long with the next one.
> 
> Also, 9S has one of those tables where you sit on the floor, just in case anyone gets confused. Prepare yourselves for couple of more Japanese phrases I hate translating but I can't bring myself to leave out either.

Over the course of following few weeks after 2B suddenly entered 9S’ life, 9S slowly adapted to the changes 2B brought with her. He would walk to school with her every morning now; he might have waited by the stairs one morning for 20 minutes to see when she comes down and then changed his morning rituals to accommodate to leaving home ten minutes earlier than he was used to. Waking up in the morning suddenly became so much easier when he had something to look forward to. He was dreaming of the dystopian memories less and less as time went by, reduced from approximately four times a week to something along the lines of once or twice. As much as he loved meeting 2B in his dreams too, most of the dreams weren’t what he would call pleasant so 9S was grateful for the change of pace.

9S and 2B would walk home together on the days their schedules met, mainly Tuesdays after they both finished their club activities and Fridays when neither one of them had any. 9S was a little bit annoyed with the fact that 2B had club practice on two days he didn’t, but he made it a point to ask his boss to give him shifts on those days rather than on Fridays whenever possible.

Eventually 9S gathered up the courage to ask 2B for her number. He started explaining in length that since they’re neighbors and all, it would be good to have each others’ phone numbers in case of emergencies (such as fire, typhoon, power outage, earthquake, and so on) or for letting the other one know if they are sick and won’t be going to the school, etc.. 9S had been so focused on making his grand speech and looking at anything but 2B’s face to hide his nervousness that he was only able to stop rambling uncontrollably when 2B placed her phone in his hand mid-speech and told him to put in his information with her go-to blank expression. He instantly shut up and did as he was told while 2B took his phone and returned the favor.

Finally having 2B’s number made 9S phone feel heavier. His heart would skip a beat every time he heard a message alert, but so far none of them had been from 2B. Not that he really expected her to text him, but that didn’t stop him from hoping. Besides, he hadn’t messaged her once either. It had taken approximately two weeks’ worth of courage to just ask for the number. It will probably take at least another two or maybe three weeks before he can actually text her.

Walking together to school every morning really helped 9S to get closer to 2B. He was becoming more relaxed around her little by little, which caused him to be more talkative. 2B would always listen what he had to say, even if he got really into talking about some programming issue he was dealing with at the club. 2B really didn’t know much about computers and probably didn’t understand some of the words he used, but she would listen to him politely and sometimes ask things like “Is that bad?” to let him know she was listening. Occasionally she would also compliment him, telling him that she thinks it’s amazing how someone as young as him knew so much about different things. He would usually lose his trail of thought instantly after and fall quiet for a minute out of embarrassment.

It was so nice to have someone to talk to. Sure, he had 4S, but he would lose interest fairly quick and wasn’t too good at pretending to be invested in something he didn’t actually care about. 21O and him had been very close when they were little but growing up had made them drift apart little by little and they didn’t hang out much anymore outside of their club activities. 6O was always up for a chat, but she wasn’t always the best listener and she would get bored easy and keep changing topics rather than stick to one for a while, not to mention the only times they really saw each other was in the clubroom.

9S knew he could get carried away sometimes while talking and apologizes to 2B whenever he catches himself doing just that, but 2B always reassures him that it’s fine, sometimes even with a smile that sends a wave of warmth through his entire body.

_____

On a third Friday since meeting 2B, 9S finally receives a text from her. His phone buzzes as he’s finishing packing his lunch and his first reaction is to check the time on his watch. 8:15, who texts him at this hour? His heart skips a beat when he notices the sender ID and almost drops his phone as he fumbles to open the message as soon as he can.

“I’m not going to school today, so don’t wait for me.”

All his excitement from getting his first text from 2B deflates instantly and his face turns into frown as he types ‘Good morning! Is everything okay? Did something happen? Are you okay?’ before deciding that maybe that’s too many questions and erases the last two, replacing them with a concerned emoji. He makes sure he didn’t make any typos and hesitates for another second before pressing ‘send’. What if she’s sick? Maybe he should skip school too to nurse her back to health if that’s the case. Not that 2B would let him, she can take care of herself.

“Caught a cold.”

“Are you okay? Do you need help with anything?”

”I’m fine.”

Worth the shot.

”Alright. Hope you feel better soon! (´･ᴗ･ ` )”

No reply comes and 9S tries his best not to worry. He’s happy that she decided to stay home and rest rather than force herself to go to school. Then again, that’s why he’s worried in the first place; she is exactly the kind of person that will push herself too far. Maybe she’s doing so bad she can’t even stand up on her own? Maybe she’s so sick she needs hospital and she’s saying she’s fine so that he wouldn’t worry?

He presses the call button before he even realizes it.

“… 9S?” her voice sleepily whispers into his ear and he loses any composure he still had left.

“Oh, uh- 2B-senpai? Sorry for calling all of a sudden! H-hope I didn’t wake you up?”

“We were just texting a minute ago.”

“R-right! I just, uh, wanted to make sure one last time if you need anything? I-I can be a little late for school to make you something to eat or something…” his voice quiets towards the end and he wonders what the hell is he even trying to do.

Thankfully, he hears a small chuckle.

“I told you I’m fine. Just a fever and a runny nose.”

“Soo… You don’t need to go to the hospital or anything?”

“No, I just need sleep.”

“Right, you should sleep! And remember to drink lots of fluids! Uh, do you have medicine? What about f-“

“9S.”

“Yes?”

“You’re worrying too much. I’m okay, I was just going to go back to sleep.”

“O-oh, right. Sorry for bothering you, I’ll leave you alone now so you can rest.“

“9S.”

“… Yeah?”

There was a small pause but right before 9S had the chance to open his mouth again 2B speaks up, “Thanks. Bye.”

“B-bye…”

9S stares at his phone in awe after the beep signalling the call was over. What did 2B thank him for? For checking up on her? For letting her be?

Never mind that, he just had his first phone call with 2B! Boy, her sleepy voice was cute. He didn’t even make a complete fool out of himself, only a little. He gives himself a mental pat on the back as he finishes packing up his things and heads for school with an uncontainable smile.

_____

“What are you grinning about?” was 4S’ greeting as 9S runs into him. Walking up to school together with 4S had become rare occurrence now that 9S left earlier to walk with 2B.

“Hm? I’m grinning?”

“Yeah, it’s creepy.”

“Rude,” 9S frowns but explains after a dreamy sigh, “2B texted me for the first time this morning.”

“That’s it?”

“Aaand then we had a brief phone call!” 9S declares with a grin which makes 4S gringe.

“Ugh. Somehow it was less creepy before you explained yourself.”

“You’re the one who asked. You reap what you sow.”

4S just shakes his head, “Right, right, learned my lesson. So why aren’t you two walking together?”

“Ah, yeah. Apparently 2B caught a cold or something so she’s not coming to school.”

“Huh. Surprised you showed up in that case. I would’ve bet all my money that you’d be skipping to nurse her back to health or something.”

9S shakes his head, “She wouldn’t let me do that.”

4S stops in his tracks and stares at 9S. “Don’t tell me you offered?”

“… Not with those words at least.”

“You’re hopeless.”

_____

“I wonder if could get 2B to call me Nines…”

“Nines?”

“It was a nickname she made for me… Sometimes she would use it but then she stopped, I guess it hurt too much since she had to… you know… but she would still sometimes slip it anyway. It was precious.”

4S hums thoughtfully while he chews on his food before saying, mostly to himself,

“I feel bad for 2B-senpai.”

“Huh? Why? She doesn’t remember those things,” 9S mumbles with his mouth full of food.

4S grimaces at the lack of manners and shifts his gaze to his nearly empty lunch box, playing around with a lone bean. “It’s not that. I just… Don’t you think it’s a bit unfair that you have all these expectations of her based on your dream memories of some other version of her? You can’t even be sure if any of that is real, which honestly still seems highly unlikely.”

“What do you know about 2B and our relationship to say that?” 9S spits out with so much venom that 4S’ freezes. He glances up and notices 9S’ fingers are turning white from squeezing the chopsticks. 4S is glad looks can’t kill, because he sure as hell would be dead now based on the way 9S is looking at him now. It’s ridiculous. He knows 9S is crazy about 2B, but he had a message he felt 9S needed to take in, now more than ever.

More offended by the aggressive tone his friend was taking with him than he was willing to admit, 4S blurts out, “More than 2B-senpai does, from the looks of it.”

He regrets it instantly when 9S’ face falls with obvious hurt and 4S tries to apply first-aid with a softer tone.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out that way. I just think that maybe you should treat 2B-senpai like any person you meet for the first time and get to know little by little. You already said there were some different things, like 2B-senpai liking the violin while the dream-2B never expressed too much interest in music, or that 2B-senpai smiles more than the other one. They’re not the same person.”

“2B is 2B, they’re the same!”

9S is getting more heated again and 4S realizes there’s no way he’s getting through to this lunatic the way he is now.

“Just… Think about it, will you? You might end up getting hurt if you have all these expectations for her that she can’t fulfil. Or worse, you might end up hurting her too.”

“Whatever, I’m going to the bathroom.”

9S leaves and 4S sighs to himself. People turn weird once they get all defensive about something. He packs his things and goes back to his seat, the lone black bean long forgotten in his lunch box.

_____

“9S, I have a present for you!”

9S pauses his sweeping and turns around to see 6O with a big grin standing at the doorway to his class.

“6O-senpai? What is it?”

“You see, our teacher asked me to take 2B’s homework to her and all, but I thought to myself that maybe there’s a knight in shining armor _yearning_ for a chance to see the princess again and save her in these troubling times.” After seeing the quizzing look from 4S, she continues, “I also have tennis today so I can’t go until after and it would be pretty late. So here you go, here’s 2B’s homework!”

“I don’t know if I’m a big fan of that whole knight thing… but yeah, I’ll take care of it!”

“I’m counting on you! Also, can you make sure she’s okay and text me? She says she is but she doesn’t let anyone worry about her ever so I can’t be too sure.”

“Yeah, I got that feeling from her too. I’ll text you later.”

When 6O leaves, 9S speeds up his sweeping and once he is done with his share, he half runs out of the school. There’s a princess waiting.

_____

This is the first time 9S has ever been at 2B’s door and he could feel his hands sweating as he hovers his finger in front of the doorbell. With the help of a deep breath to calm down his nerves, he manages to will himself to ring it.

He can hear the ring of the doorbell echo inside the apartment, but not much else for a several seconds. Just as he’s starting to get worried, he hears the soft sound of footsteps approaching the door. They pause at the door and another couple seconds of silence, 2B opens the door and peeks out while 9S holds his breath without even realizing it himself.

2B is wearing pyjamas and fluffy slippers. Oh no, the pyjamas are teddy bear print, _shit_ , that’s too adorable. Especially when her cheeks are all flushed, probably because of a fever. Being this cute must be illegal somewhere. 9S wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and never let go and his hand covers his mouth out of reflex.

“9S? What are you doing here?” she asks with a surprised expression, followed by a small sniffle.

9S regains enough sense to put his hand back down and even manages to speak,

“H-hi, 2B-senpai. I, uh, 6O-senpai has tennis club today, so she asked if I could deliver your homework for you since, you know, we live tog- in the same building so uh…” he pauses for a moment to dig out the print-outs 6O had given him earlier from his bag and hands them to 2B.

“Here you go!”

“Oh, thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Also, uh, I wanted to make sure that you’re okay. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,“ 2B claims, but right after her stomach disagrees with a loud rumble.

“…”

“… You have been eating properly, right?”

“…” 2B avoids his accusing gaze by staring at the print-out in her hands. Guess 9S has her answer.

“Should I make something for you? Can I come in?” 9S blurts out without thinking. This is probably coming on way too strong, but thankfully, 2B doesn’t seem to care about the lines of normal social conduct being crossed.

“… I guess, but I don’t know if there’s anything to make any food out of.”

“I’m sure I can whip up something! Sorry for intruding!” and with that 9S basically forces himself inside 2B’s apartment, takes off his shoes hastily, and speedwalks to her kitchen, doing his best to ignore the euphoria he feels from breathing in the scent of 2B hanging in the air of her apartment.

He goes through her cupboards and fridge and despairs. The only things he finds are a half-full milk carton, a bag of (cheap) rice, and a bottle of ketchup.

9S likes to think that he’s fairly good at cooking but making a decent meal out of these ingredients is just impossible.

“2B-senpai?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how to cook?”

“… I usually get microwave meals.”

9S sighs. He should’ve known. 2B buys a microwave meal nearly every day after school. He had been hoping that she’s just too busy to cook but has at least normal amount of back-up groceries at her place for her days off or for situations like these where she can’t go to the store. She’s sick, and by now she must be starving too.

He really should’ve just skipped school, or at the very least leave his lunch box for her or something.

“Well, I can’t really make anything out of these, but I can make you something at my place. You said you liked curry rice, right? I could make that.”

“You don’t ha-“

“I want to! You won’t get better if you don’t eat anything!” 9S interrupts her and as she doesn’t look convinced, he continues, “Besides, making food for two instead of one isn’t really that much more effort and I was going to cook dinner for myself soon anyway.”

2B shifts on her feet a bit as she considers his words when her stomach growls again at the prospect of a meal and she reluctantly accepts.

“Okay, then maybe I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Great! It’ll take a while, I can just bring it up here when it’s ready or…” 9S hesitates for a second, “… or you could wait at my place, i-if you want to. I, uh, have a TV and you can watch whatever you like.”

2B ponders for a moment. “That sounds… nice, but I don’t want to pass my cold onto you.”

“It’ll be fine! I just had a cold during summer break so I’m probably immune for some time anyway, don’t worry about it!”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. Oh, do you have enough energy for the stairs?”

“I’m not that weak.”

2B says with a slightly defiant tone and it would probably be a whole lot more convincing if she wasn’t wearing _teddy bears_ out of all things. Now it’s just adorable, but 9S keeps his thoughts to himself.

“Just making sure. Alright, uh…” 9S gestures at 2B’s outfit awkwardly and feels warmth spreading across his cheeks again before looking away, “d-do you maybe want to change your clothes first? I mean, I don’t really mind, but I don’t know if you want to be seen like that by strangers on the street or something…”

2B looks down at her clothes and shrugs. “I guess I should.”

“Okay, I’ll just wait outside.”

After a couple of minutes 2B emerges in a pastel pink knitted sweater and black sweatpants (cute, cute, cute) and they head down to 9S’ apartment. 9S offers to support 2B, but she refuses. He hovers close to her in the staircase regardless, just in case. 2B looks mildly annoyed by it, which hurts a bit, but 9S tells himself her safety comes first.

“Alright, I’m going to get started with the food, make yourself comfortable while you wait! The remote is there on the table, feel free to watch whatever you want. The fan is right over there if it’s too hot and feel free to use the tissues if you need them.”

“Okay, thanks.”

9S watches as 2B settles down to sit at the table and starts flipping through channels. He digs through his cupboards and is relieved to find packages of curry rice mixes. While he would love to give 2B something he made from scratch himself, it would take closer to an hour if not more, and 2B is already starving.

Maybe some other time, he timidly hopes.

”Oh right, 2B-senpai? Have you taken any medicine?”

“… I didn’t have any.”

“Thought so. Hold on, I’ll give you some before I start.”

9S grabs a cup and warms up some water in it in the microwave before mixing in a bag of cold medicine. When he’s done, he goes over to 2B and notices she had settled on a channel.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

“Something about birds, I think.”

“Huh, do you like nature documentaries?”

2B tilts her head slightly while she hums in thought. “I guess. There’s something calming about them.”

“I can see that. It’s pretty amazing how many beautiful animals and places there are in the world, huh? Anyway, you should drink this, it will make you feel better.”

9S passes the cup to 2B and she accepts it with a little frown.

“What’s in this?”

“Just some cold medicine, I think it’s ibuprofen based. It also has some vitamin C and zinc and all the other stuff that are supposed to help you beat a cold or a flu. It doesn’t taste great but it’s not really bad either, kind of lemon-y.”

2B nods and sips the drink experimentally while 9S waits for her reaction. She lets out a small sigh and turns to look up at 9S with a small smile.

“Thank you.”

“B-but of course! Now I’m really going to start cooking but let me know if you need anything else!”

He quickly turns around towards his kitchen to hide his embarrassment, fully aware it’s probably a lost cause at this point.

_____

In approximately 20 minutes, 9S checks the plates one more time to make sure everything looks perfect before announcing “Food’s ready!” and bringing the plates to the table.

“Be careful, it’s still hot. Do you want something to drink? I have water, coffee and some orange juice, I think.”

“Water is fine, thank you.”

“Gotcha, hold on a sec.”

9S brings couple of glasses and a water bottle with him before settling down next to 2B at the round table so that he can also face the TV.

“Itadakimasu, hope you like the food!”

2B stares at the plate and repeats the prayer after 9S with a small voice, causing him to smile.

They end up eating in relative silence, with 2B complimenting the food (making 9S all giddy and warm even though it was basically store-bought) and 9S making sure her throat doesn’t hurt too much while she eats. As they finish their food, the show changes from Australian birdlife to a space documentary about distant galaxies.

“Gochisousama. Was that enough? I can make something more if you’re still hungry.”

“I’m full, thank you.”

“Alright. What about dessert? I have some pudding.”

2B’s eyes widen slightly the mention of pudding but she quickly collects herself. “You’ve already done more than enough. I couldn’t possibly take anything more from you.”

However, the way 2B initially reacted to the prospect of a sweet treat did not escape 9S and he grins, “Oh c’mon, it’s not a big deal. I’m going to have one anyways and I would just feel bad eating it alone.”

He gets up and returns soon with two small puddings and spoons.

“Here you go!”

“But-“

“I insist. Please?”

9S gives his best attempt at puppy dog eyes and 2B’s resolve seems to fall apart quick. She accepts the spoon with a small “I guess if you really want me to” and digs in. Her expression melts at the first spoonful and 9S holds back a chuckle while he enjoys his own.

“This is amazing. What brand is this?”

“Oh, my mom made that. My parents send me these care-package things every once a while. It’s mostly rice though.”

2B goes back to frowning.

“What is it?”

“… You should’ve told me sooner. I shouldn’t have this.”

2B sets down the spoon and 9S is genuinely confused. Did he say something bad?

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Your mother made it for you, I don’t think I’m supposed to be eating it.”

9S’ waves his hand to dismiss her worries and smiles.

“Don’t worry about it! I had plenty during the summer. Besides, my mom would just be excited to hear I shared some with friends and that they enjoyed it. She would probably make more the next day and ship a patch for you.”

2B doesn’t look entirely convinced but maybe she felt like she had reached a limit of how many times she can decline the dessert.

“… If you’re sure.”

“I am. You worry too much, 2B-senpai.”

9S shoots a cheeky smile at 2B and she seems to relax again. And more so at the next spoonful.

Their gazes go back to the TV. The documentary is interesting (9S had always had a little bit of a soft spot for space things), if somewhat general, and 9S offers additional comments and fun facts as they watch while 2B participates in her usual way of asking what some word means or replies such as “I see” to his explanations. At least, until she doesn’t and 9S turns around to look at her.

“2B-senpai?”

“…”

2B is leaning down on the table with her arms crossed over one another, her head nestled on top of them. Her closed eyes and mouth slightly open and peaceful breathing suggest that she’s fallen asleep.

9S can’t help but smile softly as he looks at her. What should he do? He doesn’t want to wake her up. She looks adorable and he’s elated she feels comfortable enough to let her guard down like this around him. She probably needs the sleep too.

But, be it as it may, that sleeping position is just going to make her back and neck hurt, not to mention she should be safely tucked under a warm blanket to make sure she doesn’t just get sicker. At least her face now only has a minor hint of red left, seems like the medicine worked.

Waking 2B means ending the nice night they’ve been having, as she obviously needs to go home and gets some more rest. Of course, she would be more than welcome to do that here, but there’s no way he could suggest something like that. Honestly, inviting her here to eat was toeing the line of being an overbearing creep.

She looks so pretty and peaceful and 9S wishes he could reach out and brush off the stray lock of hair away from her face to get a better look.

The 2B in his dreams would even share a room with him during their missions on Earth. He remembers watching her resting figure on more than several occasions but more often than not, she would still wear her visor even while sleeping. In case of emergency, she had told him whenever he asked about it. He’s only been blessed with her unguarded sleeping face only a few times, maybe that just adds up to the feeling of preciousness of this moment.

_They’re not the same person._

4S’ words resound in his head and his chest hurts. 9S doesn’t want to admit it, but 4S is probably right. He discovered new things about 2B again today that weren’t really directly related to the dream-2B at all. It could just be that 2B in his dreams would have been the exact same person with same interest, had she been given a change in that world. But that’s nothing more than speculation.

In the end, 9S doesn’t exactly feel like the same person either, especially when it comes to some of the latest ones where he had to survive alone after 2B’s death and he goes a bit… crazy. Why would 2B be any different? Especially if she doesn’t have any memories of that life in the first place.

9S knows he’s being unfair and that their standpoints are unbalanced. He knows things about her that even she doesn’t, and she knows next to nothing about him. What’s worse, he is probably using the things he knows about her subconsciously to get closer to her, all in order to get what was unattainable to his dream-self.

Knowing all this doesn’t mean he can just turn off a switch and stop seeing them as separate people. It’s hard, especially when there are still so many similarities, most glaring one of them being the appearance.

…

Is what he’s doing _really_ all that bad if he still keeps 2B’s happiness his top priority? She’s always free to decline his advances. So far, she hasn’t, and he dares to think that she enjoys his company too.

9S decides he can be a little selfish and move that stray lock of hair to get a better look at 2B’s sleeping face. Thankfully, she doesn’t stir. He’ll let her sleep for a little longer while he cleans up, but first he grabs his blanket and drapes it over her so that she doesn’t get cold.

_____

”2B-senpai… It’s time to wake up!”

His voice is calming. So gentle and filled with kindness. She could listen to it forever. Something about it feels strangely familiar and it seems to both make her heart feel light and fill it with bittersweet ache at the same time. Why?

_Why is he so kind to her?_

“C’mon, I know you’re tired, but you should probably go sleep in your bed. You’re just going to get worse sleeping here.”

A gentle shake on her shoulder gives 2B the strength to open her eyes and look at the source of the voice. 9S is smiling at her. Why? A look spared at her surroundings remind her of the situation and she relaxes the tension that she didn’t realize she had built up in her body just now.

“Oh, sorry. How long was I asleep?”

“Less than half an hour, I think. I noticed you dozed off, so I decided to clean up here before waking you up. Figured you needed the rest but sleeping like for a long period of time will just make your body stiff, so I thought maybe I should wake you up now.”

“… Thanks. Maybe I should go home.”

“Yeah, maybe. How are you feeling? Any better?”

2B stands up and stretches her arms. Her neck feels a bit stiff from the suboptimal sleeping position but it’s nothing that requires extra attention. “A lot better, actually. I think the food and the medicine worked.”

“I’m glad to hear that! I’ll take you to your door, hold on a sec.”

2B watches her neighbour grab a grocery bag and stuff some things into it in the kitchen before offering it to her with a wide smile.

“Here you go! I put some more medicine there in case you still feel sick in the morning, just mix it with warm water and you’re set. I also put a package of that curry in there, and couple of apples. That should get you through tomorrow at least. The curry is really easy to make, the instructions are written there on the box. It would taste better if you added some meat but it’s pretty good on its own too.”

He’s speaking faster than what her groggy mind can properly process, but she accepts the bag regardless.

“… Thank you. I’ll pay you back sometime.”

9S’ smile softens and he shakes his head, “No need! You getting better soon is all the payback I need!”

9S’ smile must be infectious as 2B feels her lips tugging upwards at the corners. He seems to have that effect on her.

“I’ll do my best.”

9S insists on walking her to her door. It seems that he’s gotten into his head that the staircase will be the reason for her demise, as he hovers close to her again. It’s silly, 2B thinks, but if it makes him happy, she has no objections.

9S seems satisfied with his escort mission when 2B safely opens her door and walks in. She turns around to face him at the doorstep.

“Good night… And thank you, for everything.”

2B feels her eyes drift away from 9S’ towards the end of her sentence. It’s embarrassing that she had to rely on someone younger than her to take care of her like this. She’s the senpai, she should be the one looking out for him, not the other way around.

”You’re welcome. And it was uh… nice having company.”

9S reaches up to scratch his neck in a bashful manner, never losing the smile. He then wishes her good night and turns around to leave, but only manages to walk a few meters before 2B calls out his name.

“9S!” 2B takes one step out into the corridor and 9S turns around, his pale blue eyes looking at her, waiting. The question she wanted to ask catches in her throat and instead, she shakes her head and says the next best thing.

“I enjoyed your company too.”

9S’ eyes positively sparkle, and he gives her a toothy smile that’s so wide 2B momentarily thinks it must hurt his cheeks. She can’t help but return the smile. She feels a bit warm and she wonders if the medicine’s effect is wearing off.

“Feel free to visit anytime!”

She nods and they wave their goodbyes. 9S turns around to head to his own apartment and 2B quietly watches his retreating figure for a moment before going back inside.

Her dark apartment feels empty and cold as usual, but this time it doesn’t really bother 2B. She turns on a light and goes to unload the bag in her fridge. Curry, a bag of rice (must be from 9S’ parents), apples, medicine as promised… and another pudding.

 _He’s too kind_ , she thinks to herself as her heart flutters quietly in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the sweet comments you've been giving me, they give me life <3\. I hope the long wait was worth it and you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know if there are some glaring mistakes, I did my best to fix everything but I've reread and edited this like 6 times now so I got kind of blind to it lol.


	4. Punches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9S is a hard-working boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are the sweetest and I'm so happy about all the sweet comments I've gotten for this fic! I even got fanart and I was in tears! I started writing this thing with the "I don't care if it sucks, I just wanna write" -kind of attitude so I honestly didn't see any of that coming. I thought maybe some people would think "This is kinda nice" and maybe leave a couple of kudos but I honestly thought that'd be it, lol. I don't really know what to do with myself, I've been kinda flustered for days now, but I'm so very very happy about all of your support!
> 
> Here's a link to the fanart by Tindy! Please check it out, it's so cute!!!  
> https://twitter.com/tindy_pic/status/1312783938612391936?s=20
> 
> PS. I'm still looking for a beta. Update: I tried to read this chapter now on my phone and BOY do I need a beta. I just fixed at least 20 typos, extra words and missing words here. Sadly, I don't have time for more right now so hope it's at least fairly neat now for you guys to read.

Sunday shifts at the family-style restaurant 9S works at are always either deadly boring or busy to the point of him sweating as he flies back and forth between the kitchen and the tables to serve all his customers, hoping nobody has to wait long enough to complain.

Today it happens to be the latter. 9S sacrifices two seconds in the kitchen to check the clock, confirming that he has to keep slaving for another four hours and ten minutes before he can rest his already sore feet. At least lunch hour is almost over, it generally slows down a bit after that before picking up again as the dinner time approaches.

He grabs a napkin and wipes his forehead with it quick before picking up the two plates going to table five. White opens the kitchen door slightly by back walking to it, both her hands occupied with water pitchers. “9S, your friend is here again, sit her at one of your tables, mine are full.”

“Oh?” is all 9S manages to say before White disappears, most likely going to refill some waters. 

9S follows after her to the serving area, beelining to table five without as much as a glance at the entrance. 6O is here to drool at White again, which isn’t really exactly news or unexpected. She makes an appearance basically whenever she has time, and he _did_ give her tips on when White would be working recently.

None of that really makes him any less irritated. Couldn’t she have just picked another day? He’s busy enough as it is, he doesn’t have time to listen to her woes when he still hasn’t been able to ask table one’s orders.

He hides his annoyance and smiles for his customers at table five as he sets down the plates and wishes them “Enjoy your meal!” before turning around to look at the entrance.

His annoyance at 6O melts instantly when he sees that she brought 2B with her. The surprise he was feeling must’ve been evident in his face as 6O grins, obviously happy with herself.

But 9S doesn’t really want to waste his precious time looking at 6O’s smug face when he could instead be admiring 2B. 2B is wearing a simple pastel yellow shirt with sleeves reaching up to her elbows and white skirt that almost reaches her knees, fastened with a delicate black belt at the waist. She has a pretty good sense of style, 9S decides, although he’s no expert when it comes to things like fashion. He only knows she looks amazing. As he gets closer to them, he notices that she’s wearing strappy brown heels and the height difference it creates between them briefly reminds him of his dreams.

… Is she wearing make-up or did her lips always look so red and irresistible?

Could be both.

“Hi, 2B-senpai and 6O-senpai! Are you here to eat?”

“Yup. Give me one of White’s tables.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that, she’s too busy and asked me to take you two.”

6O eyes him suspiciously but shrugs as she doesn’t really have means of confirming whether he’s lying or not. Which he isn’t.

“Fine, do you have a window table?”

“Uuh, sure. I need to clean it up first. It’s kind of busy today, so I need to take care of a couple of other tables before I can get to it, do you mind waiting at a messy table for a few minutes?”

“No problem!”

“Well then, right this way!” 9S gestures slightly theatrically, earning a small smile from 2B that made the silly move all worth it, and leads them to their table.

As the girls sit down, 9S tells them “I’ll be back in a sec with menus!” before rushing off to table one before they start writing up bad reviews on social media.

His steps suddenly feel so much lighter that he doesn’t even notice how sore his feet are anymore.

_____

6O looks around the restaurant and quickly finds who she was looking for and whispers excitedly to 2B.

“Psst, over there, that’s her!” with her finger subtly pointing at the direction of a blond server.

“Isn’t she just _gorgeous_?! She also has that confident aura to her, like she’s always in control of the room, it’s so sexy!”

2B looks at the person in question, less subtle than 6O but also less enthusiastic.

“God I would love to see her in some actual nice clothes instead of that orange work shirt. I bet she’d look even prettier in blue or maybe deep red.”

 _I guess she is pretty_ , 2B thinks to herself, but doesn’t really see what’s so amazing about her that got 6O such a mess. Then again, she’s not a lesbian so maybe she isn’t really supposed to understand it anyway.

“I guess,” she offers her lukewarm yet honest opinion and turns her attention back to 6O.

“By the way, why didn’t you tell me 9S works here?”

6O doesn’t even turn back to look at her, still focused on trying to meet the blond server’s gaze.

“I thought it would be a fun surprise,” she replies while petting one of her braids, flattening down any stray hairs. “I honestly didn’t think too much about it.”

“I see.”

The server then turns around and seems to notice them. 6O gives the server a shy wave accompanied by the sweetest smile she can muster. 2B is mildly surprised to see the server respond with a polite smile and a small wave before returning to work, leaving 6O blushing.

“Oh my gosh, she smiled at me!”

“Of course she did, you’re a regular nowadays and she has to be polite to the customers,” 9S returns with a reality check nobody asked for, as well as water and menus.

“Don’t be so mean! I’ll take it as progress!”

9S shrugs and starts clearing out the dishes last customers left there and wiping the worst stains and crumbles while 2B and 6O focus on their menus.

“As you can probably see, it’s kind of busy right now so it might take a little while before you get your food. Are you two really hungry already?”

“I can wait fine, 2B?”

“Me too.”

“Great. Do you want something other than water to drink while you wait?”

“I’ll have the peach tea!”

“Got it! What about you 2B-senpai?”

2B bites her lip as she looks at the drinks. “I’ll have the same.”

“Do you two know what you will be eating, or do you need some time to think about it?”

“I think we’ll need a minute,” 6O answers for the both of them.

“Alright, I need to go take these plates to the kitchen and serve some other tables, I’ll be back in a few to ask what you want to eat.”

9S leaves them to consider their orders while he speedwalks to another table in need of cleaning up. 2B lifts her gaze from her menu to follow his movements. The shade of orange of his work shirt is pretty hideous but it still didn’t look completely awful on him. She notices 9S wiping sweat from his forehead between serving tables but managing to put on an honest smile for each of his customers, even though he must be exhausted. It’s… impressive.

As soon as she thinks that, 2B sees 9S spill some ice water on himself while carrying around a pitcher. The cold water makes him hiss silently before he frowns at the offensive wet spot spreading on his shirt. She feels a smile tugging at her lips and as if sensing it, 9S turns around and meets her eyes. His eyes widen, looking like a deer caught in headlights, but he smiles weakly at her nevertheless as his face grows red.

_… Cute._

_____

“Sorry it took so long! Here you go!” 9S says as he sets down the plates on the table; hamburger steak for 6O and a katsudon bowl for 2B.

“No worries, I wouldn’t mind spending all day here,” 6O declares with a smile and 9S mentally sighs.

“If you say so. Thankfully, it’s starting to quiet down a bit now that lunch time is over.”

“Do you get to take a break soon then?” 2B asks.

“Oh, uh, not really. There’s still good number of tables to take care of and a lot of dishes piling up in the back, my co-workers are going to need all the help they can have with that as soon as things calm down on this side of the restaurant.”

2B frowns and 9S, noticing her expression, quickly speaks up again.

“B-but it’s alright! Restaurant work is kind of like this, I’m used to it by now. It’s still pretty fun and the time flies when you’re busy. I take that over having nothing to do for hours any day!”

“I see,” 2B says in a passive voice but she does feel herself relax a little.

“Well, hope you two enjoy your meal!”

“Will do,” 6O sings after him while digging into her food.

They start eating while 6O tells 2B about some shenanigans her tennis club mates had gotten them into. 2B tries to listen the best she can, but the abundance of names she doesn’t recognize makes it a bit difficult to follow.

“So long story short, we all got banned from that karaoke place! It sucks, that one was my favorite too!”

6O complains with a wide smile and laughter that makes 2B wonder if she’s actually upset about it in the slightest.

“At least you seem like you had fun.”

“Sure did!”

As 6O grows silent for a moment to enjoy her food, 2B takes the opportunity to say something she has been wondering ever since she moved here.

“Maybe I should get a job too.”

“Like part-time?”

“Yeah.”

6O frowns a little while chewing. She swallows and says with a tentative tone, “I don’t know if you can.”

2B frowns right back at her, confused and honestly a little offended. “What do you mean?”

“You have to ask the school for permission first and while sometimes they do let the students work, they have pretty strict requirements. You need a good reason and excellent grades and if your grades start dropping when you start working, they will force you to stop immediately,” 6O explains, looking apologetic.

It’s not like it’s her fault the school is strict about students working.

“Oh… I guess that’s out of the question for me then.”

Her grades aren’t the best. At this school they might even be way below average, although she hasn’t taken any exams yet so she can’t say for sure.

“Why do you want to work anyway? Your parents take care of your money stuff, right?”

“Yeah, they do. I just thought that maybe it would be nice to do something to be able to make my own money and feel a bit more independent,” 2B looks down at her food.

6O smiles at her gently.

“2B, you’re always so serious. You’ll get to work the rest of your life, might as well relax and enjoy having free time while it lasts! Unless you plan to just get married and be a housewife?”

2B simply frowns at her and 6O giggles. “Thought so. Although that can apparently be a whole lot of work too, especially with kids.”

“I’m sure. Do you want to be one?”

“Will you judge me if I say I do?”

2B shakes her head while she chews her food. 6O hums and turns her eyes to look out of the window.

“… I think it could be nice, but maybe it would be kind of lonely being home alone all day all the time. Maybe when I have kids?”

“I see.”

They fall into comfortable silence as they watch the people passing by their window for a while there, until 6O suddenly perks up again.

“Oh, right! If you do still want a part-time job and you’re willing to work raising your grades for it, I can help you study!”

2B’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! I’ll come to your place or something and we’ll have snacks and everything! It’ll be fun! Like an educational girls’ night!”

“Thanks, that sounds nice.”

6O flashes 2B her widest smile and 2B feels gratitude for the universe for bringing 6O into her life.

She’s always been an amazing friend and now she’s helping 2B out with school too, as if she hasn’t already done more than enough for her.

2B smiles back at her friend and silently wishes there was something she could do for her friend too.

_____

9S makes his way back to 2B and 6O’s table when he notices they seem done eating, planning to ask if they want to stay for dessert. However, just as he opens his mouth, 6O does a surprise attack on him.

“Hey, 9S! Do you believe in soulmates?”

He instinctively glances at 2B for tenth of a second before catching himself, hoping she didn’t think anything of it.

 _Boy,_ does he believe in soulmates. Not that 9S would say that out loud since it’s kind of lame, so he decides to answer around it.

“Uh, I guess doesn’t really make sense, scientifically speaking.”

“Well, no, but do you believe in them anyway?”

6O is sharp and hard to distract whenever the topic is some cheesy romance stuff, 9S mentally notes. He busies himself with clearing their table in order to avoid eye-contact. He took a detour but seemed to end up in the same place with no escape.

“Maybe,” he mutters while piling the plates in a way that he could carry them all in one go.

“Sounds like a yes, I knew you were a romantic like me!” 6O giggles but doesn’t push him any more than that.

9S sighs, feeling his embarrassment on his cheeks but grateful that 6O left it at that. He almost thought she was trying to squeeze a love confession out of him right then and there but thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the case. That relief turns out to be short-lived when 2B suddenly decides to deliver a final roundhouse kick to his gut. Figure of speech, of course.

“Have you met yours then?”

9S’ jolts and his heart feels like it’s about to explode from the critical hit. His autonomic nervous system sends danger signals through his body and an instinctive flight or fight response activates in face of a threat.

However, millions of years of evolution fail him that day as his ultimate form of defense is to choke on his own spit, apparently.

9S starts coughing uncontrollably and turns away from his senpais in order not to cough all over their faces. Guess the strategy worked to some degree, because he sure as hell would not be able to answer 2B’s question now even if he wanted to. And it only cost him his pride and dignity, what a deal.

He vaguely hears 2B’s worried tone asking him if he’s okay as his body rattles with violent coughs. He nods weakly and chokes out (without meeting her eyes) that he’ll be fine before desperately scrambling towards the kitchen.

White is frowning at him once he stumbles through the door, still coughing but seems like he got the most violent ones out of the way already. 9S ignores her judgemental stare while he fills himself a glass of water and tries to calm down his coughing. He’s careful not to choke on the water too as he takes a tentative sip. The cold water feels heavenly flowing down his now aching throat and he sighs in relief, followed by one last cough.

“What the hell happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you here?” White looks at him disapprovingly. How 6O finds this person the most attractive thing in the world 9S will never understand. Then again, he might be biased since he’s in love with a literal angel himself.

“I almost choked. I just needed to drink some water. I’ll get back to work in a sec.”

White doesn’t look happy, but luckily, she needs to get back to work too and leaves him with a “make it quick”.

9S finishes his drink and remembers he forgot to ask about the desserts. He glances at the time. Three hours and 27 minutes to go. How is he going to make it through the rest of his shift?

He blames 6O for all his misery.

_____

Thankfully, by the time 9S manages to pick up enough many pieces of his shattered dignity to go back to 2B and 6O’s table, they have moved onto talk about something else (or at least 6O has as 2B’s mostly listening) and 9S receives no more uncomfortable questioning. Turns out 2B and 6O had already decided to skip dessert as they “still had some shopping to do”. 9S always feels a little bummed when his time with 2B comes to an end, but maybe just this once, the disappointment disappears under the wave of sheer relief of getting off whatever this roller coaster was.

Right before the girls leave, 6O slips an envelope it into 9S’ hands with begging eyes.

‘ _To White’_

9S holds back a sigh. He’d rather not do this, White can be unpredictable and if she decides to get upset about this, he’s the one who has to suffer the consequences… But he can’t really bring himself to refuse either, especially since 6O has been doing her best to wingman for him too. They’re in the same boat here. Plus, considering how close she is with 2B, he can’t really afford to get on her bad side anyway.

He forces out a small smile and even gives her thumbs up of encouragement before waving them both goodbye.

The restaurant is significantly quieter now and 9S focuses on clearing out the tables before going to the back to help Popola, one of the cooks, with dishes while White takes care of the few remaining customers.

“Are you feeling better now?” Popola asks him and it takes him a moment to understand what she meant. She must have noticed his coughing situation earlier.

“What? Oh, yeah, it was nothing really. Just choked on my spit,” he laughs weakly.

“Oh. Good thing it wasn’t anything more than that then,” Popola says gently, before chuckling quietly, “You were pretty red though.”

Of course he was. Feels like that’s how his face always is whenever he’s within a 20-meter radius of 2B. He’s going to forget what his original skin color is at this rate.

“That’s what you get when you can’t breathe, I guess.”

He had been hoping Popola had been too busy cooking to really notice his episode. At least Devola is on her break in the staff room, he’s pretty sure she’d be more teasing about this than Popola.

“I overheard White saying that your friend was here again, did she give you that?” Popola points at the letter poking out of 9S’ breast pocket. “Could it be a love letter?”

“I’m guessing it is,” 9S says and Popola smiles excitedly, “but not for me. I’m just the mail man here.”

Popola looks surprised.

“Oh? I thought your friend was coming here because she liked you?”

“Not a chance, she’s just my senpai at school, not to mention she’s _pretty_ gay. The letter for White actually, and she’s the one my friend is coming here for all the time.”

Popola’s mouth forms a small ‘o’ of realization and goes silent for a moment while she scrubs a plate. Just as she opens up her mouth again to say something, they hear the door open behind them.

Speaking of the devil, White walks in with arms full of more dirty plates. 9S decides to do get this delivery mission out of the way before he forgets.

“Uh, White, do you have a second?”

“What is it?”

9S wipes his hands on a towel quick before handing the envelope to White.

She cocks an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

“It’s from my friend 6O, the blond one with braids?”

White knits her eyebrows together, looking… Surprised? Confused? Uncaring? 9S honestly can’t tell.

“I see. Thank you, I guess. Do you know what it’s about?”

“… No,” 9S lies because that’s not really his place to say.

“Alright,” White puts the letter in her apron pocket, “if that’s all, I’m going to finish up my shift, so you should go back to taking care of the dining area. All seated customers are either eating or just ordered so you should be fine alone until Anemone comes in.”

“Understood. See you Thursday!”

“See you.”

_____

9S finally finishes his shift and checks his phone at the dressing room while kicking off his work shoes. He is not at all surprised to find several messages from 6O asking if he remembered to give the letter to White, plus a few follow-ups such as _‘Did she look surprised?’_ and _‘Text me as soon as you get off work, I’m dying here!’_

However, he is surprised to find a message from 2B as well and he quickly opens it.

_‘Hi. Do you have a minute later tonight when you get off work?’_

Those words are more than enough to make his heart race and he almost kisses his phone. He tries to tell himself that it can’t be anything big and that he’s definitely getting worked up over nothing, but his heart doesn’t really listen as it beats against his ribs while he writes his reply.

_‘Sure. I got off now, I’ll be home a little before 5. Any time after that works.’_

_‘Okay, I’ll come to you at 5:30 then._ ’

9S has never changed out of his work clothes so fast.

He ends up arriving home earlier than usual (he may or may not have run to catch an earlier bus) and he’s already home at 4:37 exactly, which means he has almost an hour to kill before 2B comes over. At first, he considers texting her that he’s home already, but decides to utilize the time by taking a much-needed shower. He probably smells like mustard and industrial dish soap.

In his restlessness, 9S ends up finishing his shower faster than he anticipated, in just seven minutes. He’s almost impressed with himself, that must’ve been a record for him. He takes another seven minutes to carefully blow dry his hair, making sure it settles perfectly with not a single hair out of place. As he goes to his closet to put on something, he’s hit with the realization that this will be the first time 2B ever sees him in his own clothes. Today she caught him in his unflattering orange work shirt and even last week when she was sick and came over, he had been too focused on making food for her as soon as humanly possible and forgot to change out of his school clothes first.

That made picking out clothes a whole lot harder task than he originally thought and suddenly he was very grateful about the extra time he had.

4S and 801S would probably comment something like “Are you a girl or something?” if they were to see him lining up different shirts and pants on his bed, trying to figure out the nicest combination that still passes as casual house wear. He shouldn’t look like he’s ready for a date or something, that would probably come off as snobby or too obvious.

… What if 2B’s here to ask him out though?

 _Good one_ , he snorts and pretends he didn’t just make fun of himself inside his own head.

9S eventually settles on simple yet neat black shorts, a simple white shirt and blue-gray thin hoodie. He decides to leave it unzipped since it looks more casual that way. He’s casual. After carefully running through his sock drawer he picks out the cleanest pair of white socks that he owns and makes a note to buy something that’s not just black or white to wear next time he shops for clothes.

He has 15 minutes until 2B is supposed to appear behind his door, so cleans up the mess of clothes he made during his fashion crisis and spends the remainder of the time tidying up whatever he can, which isn’t really much since his studio apartment is small and he’s fairly neat to begin with, so he ends up mostly just pacing around the apartment in circles. Finally, the doorbell rings and 9S takes a deep breath before he answers the door.

“Hi. I hope I’m not bothering you.”

2B smiles at him and he notices she’s wearing the same outfit as earlier but that she is also holding a small… bag?

“Not at all! Would you like to come in?”

2B seems a bit surprised but accepts the offer regardless.

“… Sure.”

“Come on in! Do you want something to drink? It’s kind of warm, I have some barley tea in the fridge if you’d like that?”

“Sounds good, thank you.”

9S smiles at her as she settles her shoes neatly at the entry, right next to his.

2B’s shoes look a few sizes smaller than his and for some reason that makes him kind of happy.

“I’ll get the tea, make yourself comfortable.”

9S makes a beeline to his fridge and looks over his shoulder to see that 2B sits down at the same spot as last time.

“Did you have fun with 6O today?”

“Yeah, she’s been asking me to go shopping with her for a while now.”

“Sounds fun. What did you buy?” 9S asks as he sits down at the table too, pouring a glass of cold tea for 2B.

“Some clothes. And this,” 2B says before reaching to her side and holds out the mystery bag towards him.

9S blinks and points at himself.

“For me?”

He is most likely looking just as confused as he feels as 2B seems to notice his confusion.

“Yes. It’s a small thank you for taking care of me other day. I’m sorry it’s kind of late…”

9S reaches out both of his hands to accept the bag, holding it like it’s the most fragile and precious thing in the world. 2B got something for him. A gift from 2B. 9S is overcome with emotion to the point of speechlessness as he stares at the bag.

What is in the bag doesn’t matter to him the slightest. It could be a pile of dirty potatoes and he would still be happy because it’s something 2B wanted to give him.

9S realizes he has probably been too quiet for a little too long now and forces out a quiet “T-thank you so much,” too happy to even be embarrassed about stuttering.

“It’s really nothing much. Just some cake from this small bakery I like. I wasn’t sure what you like so I got a few different kinds.”

9S could cry right then and there. 2B wanted to make sure it would be something he would like! He reaches into the bag, carefully taking out what he now knows is a cake box and opens it.

It’s cake alright, a beautiful set of four different pieces. Strawberry and whipped cream one, one that looks to be very rich in chocolate, traditional cheesecake and one that looks like it might be matcha flavored.

“You really didn’t have to get me all this. I was happy to just help you out.”

“I wanted to do something for you too.”

After a few more seconds of stunned silence from 9S’ end while he admires the cakes, 2B frowns in concern and tilts her head.

“Do you not like it?”

Oh no. Here he is, being spoiled by the love of his life and he’s just making her worry because he’s too busy ogling at his precious gift to act like a normal person. 9S mentally kicks himself to snap out of it.

“Wha-, I do! The total opposite! I’m just… so happy right now that I don’t even know what to do with myself, honestly.”

9S scratches his head sheepishly as he shares his honest feelings. 2B’s expression melts back to a smile.

“I’m glad,” she says and finishes her tea before standing up, brushing her skirt with one hand. “Seems like you had a hard day at work, so I won’t bother you more than this. Thank you for the tea and I hope you enjoy the cake.”

“U-um!” 9S sets down the box carefully on the table before quickly getting on his feet too, probably a bit too quick, as he gets a tiny head rush.

“Uh, would you like to stay for dinner, again? We could share the cake for dessert afterwards, this is too much for me to eat alone anyway.”

2B’s eyes widen slightly in surprise and 9S honestly expects her to say something like “No” or “I already eat” or “Leave me alone, you creep!” (okay maybe 2B wouldn’t be that mean) and is pleasantly surprised when she simply asks,

“Are you sure that wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

“Yeah. Like I told you before, it’s always more fun cooking for company.”

2B smiles at him.

“Alright. Is there anything I can help with?”

9S nods and his cheeks hurt. He’s probably smiling so much that he looks ridiculous, but he finds it increasingly hard to care; he’s far too happy to be bothered about seeming overly eager at this point.

His kitchen is tiny so 2B has to stand close to him as she helps him cook, peeling potatoes for him to chop and stirring the sauce pot while he adds spices. He steals glances at 2B whenever she’s focused on the cooking and his heart sings ballads inside his chest.

_It’s almost like we’re newlyweds living together. Just kidding._

… But it sure would be nice to spend every day like this with her.

_____

2B leaves soon after they finish their dinner (which tasted much better now compared to when he cooks it himself) and the cake (which was also more than heavenly). As much as he hated to see 2B leave, she said she still had homework to finish and 9S had no choice but to call it a night.

After wishing 2B good night at the door, 9S walks to his bed and lets himself fall on it back first. He digs out his phone to check the time but instead, finds a bunch of message notifications. Seems like he forgot to take it off silent mode after work.

All the messages are from 6O.

_‘9S I told you to text meeee!’_

_‘Did you remember to give the letter?’_

_‘Are you angry at me or something? I’m sorry, please don’t ignore me!’_ with a row of crying emojis.

Right, he got too distracted by 2B’s text and forgot to text 6O back. Whoops.

_‘Sorry, I was going to, but I got busy and I forgot about it until now. I gave the letter to White tho.’_

Immediately, the message he just sent got the ‘Read’ bubble next to it and he feels a bit bad for leaving her hanging for hours, even if it was an accident.

_‘Mean 9S, making me worry for hours!’_

_‘I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, I swear.’_ He adds the cutest apologetic puppy sticker he can find in his gallery, hoping the cuteness will meld 6O’s anger towards him a little.

_‘Aww, that one’s cute! I hope you feel at least a little guilty, but still, thank you so much for passing the letter! What did she look like when you gave it to her? Did she look happy?’_

_‘I couldn’t tell, honestly. I’m guessing she was mostly confused. What was in that letter anyway?’_

_‘It’s a secret! Don’t be such snoop.’_ 6O texts back almost instantly, accompanied with a winking bunny sticker.

_‘I don’t even want the details, I just want to know if I should be expecting to deliver a reply or if you gave her your contact info.’_

‘ _S-E-C-R-E-T!’_

Alright then. Guess he’ll find out eventually, if he ever does. Hopefully it’ll be the latter.

He sets down his phone and his eyes wander around his room lazily before focusing on the bakery bag sitting neatly in the corner of the room. A tired smile tugs at his lips. The taste of chocolate still lingers in his mouth. Today was a good day, even if it was kind of exhausting.

9S rolls over to lay on his stomach and rests his chin on his pillow before picking up his phone again. He opens his chat log with 6O again and hesitates for a moment before he starts typing. There was something that he had been curious but couldn’t really bring himself to ask 2B about.

_‘Hey, 6O-senpai?’_

_‘What is it?’_

_‘You almost got me killed with that soulmate thing, you know. I try so hard to keep it cool but I ended up embarrassing myself in front of 2B-senpai again because of you.’_ Sad face.

_‘Don’t blame me, it was 2B that got you all flustered!’_

_‘You led up to it.’_

_‘I was just as surprised as you were, honest!’_

She _did_ look a bit surprised now that he thinks about. He still blames her but decides to give it a rest since that wasn’t really his point.

_‘Why were you two talking about soulmates anyway?’_

6O takes a longer while to reply and he’s wondering if she’s laughing at him at the other end of the screen. Good thing he didn’t ask it in person, at least now he doesn’t have to know.

_‘Because 2B was asking why I like White even though I don’t really know anything about her. I told 2B how I believe in soulmates and that I kinda feel like White might be mine. You probably know the feeling’_

_‘That’s embarrassing. But yeah, I know the feeling.’_

_‘I thought so. Poor you though, I asked 2B if she believed in soulmates but she said no. I was hoping that at least you’d take my side when you came back to our table.’_

His heart sinks a little.

_‘Oh. She doesn’t?’_

_‘Yeah, no, she said something like “Isn’t it nicer to be able to choose the person you want to be with rather than have it be decided for you?” I kinda get the point but I still think destiny kind of thing is more romantic, don’t you think?’_

9S frowns. 2B makes a pretty good argument and he can see why she out of all people would think along those lines. The other 2B was never able to decide anything for herself, so it’s only natural that now that she has her freedom that she would want to pick her own destiny to each tiny detail, even if this version of her isn’t aware of the past chains. Maybe her soul still remembers and yearns to decide for herself.

It still stings though. Here he is, feeling like they’re meant to be and there’s no chance 2B feels the same way because she doesn’t even believe in something like that.

Even if soulmates didn’t exist, 9S knows he would always choose 2B. More like, he already chose her so many times in his past life… lives? It’s hard to express these kinds of things when you died so many times in the same timeline of things.

_‘I think what she said makes sense too.’_

_‘But isn’t it more comforting to think that there’s someone perfect for you, someone you’re meant to be happy with? I don’t think it ever feels like you’re forced to choose someone, you just fall in love and that’s the most important thing! Right?’_

_‘That’s how I’d see it too, I think.’_

_‘See, you agree with me! I wish she’d see it my way, she’s not romantic at all and doesn’t really get me when it comes to these things.’_

9S smiles sympathetically at 6O’s message.

_‘You can’t really force anyone to change their way of thinking. Doesn’t mean either one of you is wrong.’_

6O takes a while to reply again and 9S gets up to brush his teeth while he waits for the reply.

_‘I know… And I guess at least 2B isn’t judgemental or anything and listens to me when I talk about this kind of stuff without complaining, even if she doesn’t really get it. She’s a good friend like that.’_

9S smiles to himself and leaves the toothbrush hang between his lips to free both of his hands to quickly write, ‘ _She sure sounds like it.’_

6O replies back with a sticker of a cartoony animal flying a flag with “YES!” written on it.

He snorts and puts his phone back in his pocket, spits out the toothpaste foam and looks at himself in the mirror. He runs his hand through his hair and leans in closer to inspect his face that looks a bit too young for his liking. Not a single hair on his babyface, no matter how hard he looks.

Maybe 2B would find him attractive if he didn’t look like a 13-year-old still.

Meanwhile she’s objectively gorgeous beyond words and he’s sure he’s not the only one with functioning eyes in 2B’s life. Some other guys at school must noticed her, guys older and cooler looking than 9S. Wouldn’t be too surprising if someone were to ask her out soon. Then again, someone might have already done that. He wouldn’t really know unless she told him and why would she really? It’s not like they’re that close.

… What if she ends up choosing someone else? 9S doesn’t even know what he would do if that were to happen. Just imagining her holding hands and smiling at someone else makes him sick to his stomach.

 _Ugh_ , why does she have to be so out of his league? He’d love her the same even if she wasn’t pretty. Of course he enjoys her looks immensely, he’s not denying that, but he doesn’t particularly like the idea of the competition it might bring about. Horny boys that are only interested in her appearance. 2B deserves better than that, she deserves someone who treasures her and someone who will be there for her no matter what.

9S would do all that and more. He’d make sure to make her smile every single day for the rest of their lives.

Maybe if 2B shared his memories, he could feel at least somewhat more at ease. They had a special bond in the other life that would certainly tip the scales in his favor, at least a little bit.

… But then again, maybe they only had the bond because they never had anyone else but each other, over and over again.

9S shakes his head, hoping to get rid of the depressing thoughts before they take over him.

So what if 2B doesn’t believe in soulmates? So what if he’s not the most attractive person in the city or even in their school? So what if some other people might try to hit on her? None of that means that he doesn’t stand a chance. She still seems to honestly enjoy his company and even stayed for dinner today. She even got him cake! That has to mean that she sees him as a friend at the very least.

9S punches down his insecurities with a determined smile cast at his reflection.

If 2B believes in choices over fate, 9S is just going to have to do his best to make 2B choose him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write because I had no idea what I was gonna write every time I sat down to do it. The direction of this chapter changed like 7 times and I deleted and added scenes and pages like a madman.


	5. Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory sports festival episode. Boys being boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: embarrassingly enough I haven't got my hands on YoRHa Boys -novel yet (I'm waiting if I need to order something else from Japan soon to save in delivery fees) so I'm basing their personalities and their relationships to some extend on how I've seen others depict them, mostly on pixiv. That's also the main reason I haven't really mentioned most of them at all as I'm mostly sticking to the ones that I feel are the most familiar to me. I'll probably drop more of them in when I finally read the Thing. Sorry if it's really OC. ^^'
> 
> Also I'm a European and I don't really understand the American feet system of measuring distance so we'll be doing meters here. The fact that they do that in Japan too is just a plus.
> 
> PSA! Shirl also drew 9S and 2B inspired their school uniforms in this fic! It's beautiful, please go give it a like if you already haven't! <3  
> https://twitter.com/shirl_geem/status/1315116143510794241

_“9S… the time I was able to spend with you… it was like memories of pure light… Thank you… Nine…s.”_

_It’s not fair. All this time 9S had been longing for 2B call him with that nickname but hearing it now just feels bitter._

_When he had some extra time on his hands during their rare breaks between missions, he would often imagine how she would say it for the first time and how he should respond when that time finally came._

_Maybe she would say it sometime when he gets hurt. Maybe she would sound worried over his well-being or possibly she would sound relieved to see that he’s alright._

_Maybe he should play it cool and simply smile and ask, ‘What is it, 2B?’ as if it was a completely normal thing for her to say._

_Maybe at that point they’d be so close that he could tease her a little bit, saying something like ‘I thought you said 9S works just fine?’ but then again, maybe seeing her get embarrassed wouldn’t be worth the risk of her refusing to say it again._

_Or maybe, just maybe, they’d be close enough for him to take her hand and lace their fingers together. Maybe she wouldn’t be wearing the visor and he could see every detail of the expression on her face as she calls him ‘Nines’. Would she have the usual poker face? Would she smile? Would she be embarrassed? Would she blush and avert her eyes?_

_Maybe, if he was bold enough, he could gently caress her cheek._

_… Did she say it to one of the past 9S’s? Did she say it to some of them, maybe even all of them? Would she whisper it between her sobs as she stabbed yet another 9S, dyeing her white sword in red before stealing that memory from him a minute later._

_That sounds like her._

_He will never know. The memories of those versions of him are long gone, just like YoRHa and the bunker. 2B is just as gone and there will never be a future where he gets to hear her call him ‘Nines’ again._

_His body trembles as he feels sick and broken to the core. He saves the audio file into his memory unit, locking it away behind aggressive protective barriers to make sure no one else other than him will ever have the access to it. The message was for him alone. It will be his last treasure in this world; the last piece of 2B and a keepsake of what they were and what they could have been, had things gone differently._

_He squeezes his hands into fists and blinks away the moisture gathering at the corner of his artificial eyes._

_He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want to hear it at the bridge either._

_He wanted to hear 2B say it when she was still alive._

_It’s not fair…_

_____

Even though 9S has never been particularly passionate about sports, sports festivals at school have usually been one of his favorite days of the school year. The elementary school in his town was small and all the kids knew each other. Even in his middle school (which was a little further away in a slightly bigger town) there were only maybe two or three different classes per grade so things never really got too competitive, which 9S was always grateful for; he’s never been too competitive himself and doesn’t really care too much about winning or losing overall, especially if it’s about something he doesn’t even really care much about.

Sports festival, to him, was simply an excuse to spend one day on silly games, music and performances outside in the warm October air instead of being cooped up in a dusty classroom. Who wouldn’t love that?

However, today is the first time 9S is participating in a sports festival in a bigger school, and a high school at that. The tensions seem higher than what he’s used to and honestly, he feels a bit nervous even if he’s still looking forward to it. Thankfully, most of his classmates are of the ‘I spend every extra minute I have on studying so I can get to a top university’-type and not so much of the ‘participating in sports nearly every day of the week via club activities’-types. Stereotypes are bad, okay, but he feels like it’s safe to say that their class won’t be reaching for the first place out of all the other nine first-year classes.

Knowing that no one is really expecting anything special from him makes it a little easier on 9S, because he can focus on just having fun instead of feeling pressure to succeed for his class’ sake, but still, having more than 1,000 students plus the teachers watching you is still pretty scary.

… Okay, maybe he’s mostly nervous about embarrassing himself in front of 2B _again,_ but the other stuff still applies. For the first time in his life, 9S regrets never picking up sports, because if he had, he could take this as an opportunity to impress her rather than as a trial to see if he can keep his face.

The school anthem fills the field to signal the start of this year’s sports festival.

_____

 _‘This sucks’_ summarizes 9S’ thoughts well as he prepares himself at the starting line for the 200-meter race. The only reason he’s participating is because they needed three participants from each class (both boys and girls) and there was only one male volunteer in his class. Hence, they had to pick the other two randomly. 9S was one of the lucky winners of the lottery. _Yay_. His only comfort is the fact that he won’t have to participate in the relay, which is the most competitive of all the activities during sports festival. At least literally no one will care if he messes this up.

It doesn’t actually make him feel all that better since 200-meter race still _sucks._ 200 meters is more than you’d expect. It feels like it goes on for ages and others will be staring at you and your sweaty face the whole time. Even though 9S isn’t that competitive, he doesn’t really want to make his debut in the sports festival by being the last, especially since 2B is somewhere in that crowd, possibly watching him.

It would be nice to hear her cheer him on, though. 2B seems to be more on the quiet side so he’s not really expecting anything, but just maybe she will do it anyway since she’s nice like that. That would make this annoying run worth the effort.

… Or maybe not. With his luck around 2B, he’ll just trip over his own feet right in front of her and twists his ankle so that 4S has to help him limp to the school nurse.

9S hopes he didn’t just jinx himself.

No time to worry about any of that. 9S hears his classmates cheer him on in the distance as the race is about to start, but he avoids looking at the crowd. It’s easier to stay calm when he focuses his gaze on the ground in front of him as he gets into position.

“Three… Two… One… GO!”

9S sprints into run and tries to focus on his breathing. The crowd is loud to say the least, probably because it’s only the second competition of the day (100-meter race launching the event) and people are still full of energy. As he gets closer to the second-year classes, approximately half-way through the lap, he starts wondering if he’s the last, but he’s sure he’d actually trip if he tried to look around to confirm the situation so instead, he keeps his eyes fast on the track ahead of him. Someone from class 1-3 (if he remembers right) is running pretty close ahead of him and he wonders if he should try to get past him.

Knowing that he should be running past 2B’s class around now makes it surprisingly hard to not steal a peek at the crowd to see whether or not she’s watching.

“Go 9S! Go, go!” 9S hears 6O cheer on his right and he tries not to be disappointed to not hear anyone else.

Maybe he had been expecting 2B to cheer him on just a little bit. They’re still friends, after all.

The person in ahead of him seems to be getting a bit tired and 9S passes him by the time they finish the first round. At least now he’s certain he’s not the last. That’s something. Motivated by that, he makes it his goal to run past the next person ahead of him who isn’t that far off either.

However, 9S begins to feel like he’s exhausted all of his energy by the time he gets closer to the half-way point again. He focuses all his attention to breathing evenly and making sure he doesn’t trip over his own feet. He almost feels like marionette, using strigs of conscious brain commands to move his legs step after step, trying his best to keep running forward while the legs threaten to flail around and drop him on the ground. He can tell his speed is dropping as the guy in front of him starts looking more distant by the second.

Ah well. Who cares, anyway.

“9S, just a bit more! You can do it!”

Sweat rolls off the side of his face as he instinctively turns his head towards the crowd at the sound of 2B’s voice. The sunshine makes it look like her white hair is glowing in the crowd as she cheers him on with her hands squeezed into fists in front of her chest and their eyes meet.

She’s not smiling; if anything, her gaze burns him, as if commanding 9S to not give up yet.

A smile tugs at his lips. As if blessed by a higher power, 9S feels rejuvenated and stares straight forward. Less than 50 meters left, he can make a last sprint.

What other choice does he have when 2B is cheering him on looking all determined in his stead?

9S’ legs suddenly listen to his commands much better and he notices he’s getting closer to the other runner. He’s not going to be the first, the crowd already cheered for the first runner reaching the goal, but maybe he’ll even get the fourth place if he passes this guy. That would place him at the top half of this race, which isn’t too bad at all.

Focusing his entire body into running, 9S holds his breath for the last 20 meters or so and to his joy, he passes the other guy a little before the finish line. His legs keep him running a bit past the line before he falls on the ground on his knees, out of breath to the point of dizziness.

“9S!”

4S runs towards 9S and gives him a water bottle which he gratefully accepts.

“Haah… Hah… Thanks…”

9S greedily drinks the water, choking on it a bit as his lungs simultaneously force him to take in some air.

“Congrats,” 4S smiles down at him.

“For what?”

“You didn’t realize? You were in third place.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Really. I’m just as surprised.”

“Hahhah… Hah… Give me some credit, will you? And help me up, I can barely feel my legs.”

4S chuckles good-heartedly but does as he’s told, grabbing 9S’ hand and hoists him up.

“Do you need me to carry you to where our class is sitting?” 4S pokes his side teasingly as he lets 9S take support from his shoulder.

“No thanks, I’m pretty sure some people already think we’re gay for each other. I don’t want 2B to get the wrong idea too in case she’s watching.”

“Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?” 4S grins and 9S pushes him on the shoulder he was just using for support with a laugh, feeling like maybe he can walk on his own after all.

“I love you but sorry, you don’t have the kind of butt I’m looking for. You know I’m an ass man.”

“Where’s the ‘man’ part? But anyway, you don’t need to worry, no one thinks we’re gay for each other.”

“Maybe no one told you.”

“I guess that’s possible, but based on what I’ve heard, some girls seem to think you’re gay for 801S.”

9S grimaces. Honestly, he’d rather date 4S than have someone even _think_ that he’s into 801S.

“… Gross. Why did you have to tell me that?”

4S shrugs, “Just a payback for dissing my ass.”

_____

When their class was picking out what sports each wanted to do, 9S had immediately signed him and 4S up for the three-legged race, simply because he’s always wanted to try that with someone and now he finally has the chance to do it with a good friend.

Tying their legs together as they prepare for the run at the starting line makes 9S feel a bit giddy, but he tries not to have his childish excitement shine too bright. If 4S notices it, he doesn’t comment on it.

“Doesn’t really feel like we have a chance at taking the first place, huh?” 9S says to 4S, looking around and seeing some of the sportier people from the other classes participating. 4S hums.

“Maybe we’re not the fastest out of this pool of people, but who knows, maybe we’ll be the most coordinated,” 4S grins at him and 9S can’t really stop the smile tugging at his lips either. 9S then points out a couple of their friends from class 1-2 making their way towards the track, their legs tied together.

“We sure are more compatible than 801S and 11S. How would you feel about getting serious enough about this to beat them? 801S is always acting all high and mighty, he deserves to be knocked down a peg.”

4S nods and lifts a fist towards 9S, which 9S eagerly bumps with his own as they grin, determined to make the other two eat their dust trail.

“Let’s go have some fun!”

“Hey, 801S and 11S! Last ones at the finish line have to shave their heads!” 9S calls out to them and the two boys in question turn around to look at them. 801S sighs with a lopsided smile while 11S pokes out his tongue at them. 4S and 9S laugh and get ready to run.

“Three… Two... One… GO!”

Sure enough, 9S and 4S aren’t really the fastest out of the lot but they manage to match their running near perfectly. Maybe it’s because pretty much the exact same height, or maybe it’s a best friend thing, but they manage to reach the second place right from the beginning, only beaten by the weird twins from class 1-9. 9S dares to look over his shoulder to see where their competitors are at.

“What the hell?! They’re catching up!” 9S points out between his breaths.

“Then we just have to run faster!”

“Haha… Let’s go for it!”

They manage to speed up their sprinting, and while they can’t catch the twin brothers ahead of them (they’re so fast and coordinated it’s almost creepy), they still manage to create more distance between them and 801S and 11S. The latter duo seems to notice as they try to pick up their pace too, but not with much success. 801S nearly causes 11S to trip and they slow down to find their rhythm again. Their stumbling gives 9S and 4S an opportunity to create an even bigger distance between them and soon they reach the goal, at second place out of the race.

Just beating 801S and 11S is enough of a victory for them and the boys high five each other as they laugh at the finishing line, waiting for the other two for a good 10 seconds.

“You finally made it! 4S and I were wondering if you got lost,” 9S teases them as they finally cross the finishing line at last place. 11S falls on the ground butt first while 801S tries to hide the fact that he’s out of breath.

“Oh, shut up, 9S,” 11S grumbles from the ground.

4S grins, still a bit out of breath himself. “Now, now. We don’t actually need to start a fight or anything. Good game, guys!”

“Sure. Congrats,” 801S says between his breaths, “but we’re not shaving.”

“Not even a buzz-cut?”

“Hell no.”

9S and 4S laugh as they help 11S up and give the other two friendly slaps on the back before they separate to head to their respective classes.

4S is still smiling when they get to their class, and 9S wonders when was the last time he saw his best friend this happy. It’s not that 4S isn’t usually like this; it’s actually pretty much the opposite. He tends to be a pretty bright and positive personality but 4S’ cheerfulness today makes 9S realize that 4S has been a bit more on the quiet side for a while now. Maybe he has been too preoccupied with 2B himself since the start of the fall semester that he hadn’t really noticed it up until today.

Has he been kind of a bad friend lately? His chest stings a bit at the thought. Maybe 4S has been struggling with something himself too but 9S has just been talking about his own (99% 2B related) problems non-stop.

4S laughs at something their classmate says and 9S smiles, having been too deep in his thoughts to actually catch the joke, but seeing his friend enjoying himself is nice on its own.

At least 4S seems fine now. 9S will ask him about it later; if 4S really has been struggling with something, it can wait for a little longer. Now they can just focus on enjoying their silly high school festivities to their hearts content.

_____

After that, the rest of the sports 9S takes part in are for all the guys in their class or the entire class rather than solo efforts. They have the tug-of-war against 801S and 11S’ class and much to his dismay, their class wins that round. 9S doesn’t care about losing but he just doesn’t want 801S to win, simple as that.

Their class end up failing the jumping rope first, while 801S’ gets the second place. However, 9S’ bitter disappointment is quickly erased by the sight of 2B’s class doing the jumping rope too soon after. 2B looks cute even from afar with the way her hair puffs in the air everytime she jumps, like a little birdie ruffling their feathers in the cold.

If only it wouldn’t be creepy for him to take a video of it with his phone.

Time goes by fast when you’re enjoying yourself, and the sports festival gets closer towards the end, one competition and performance at a time. As the cheerleading club performs their grand spectacle, 9S sighs quietly himself with a smile as he looks up at the clear sky.

This mix of feelings; happiness, adrenaline, disappointment, excitement, victory, belonging; this must be what all the movies and shonen manga mean when they talk about the joy of youth.

9S looks around at his classmates, who he feels like he’s managed to bond with better today and 4S, who simply smiles back at him when he catches his wandering eyes.

It doesn’t make much sense, but a part of him wonders if this is what salvation feels like.

_____

The final event, the relays, begin soon after the cheerleading performance. Some could say it’s the main event and it shows. Cheering has gotten overall quieter throughout the day as no one has the energy to be pumped the whole day, but the crowd starts moving more as people get ready to cheer their classmates and their senpais on their relays.

The relay teams are separated into male and female teams, one per class with five runners each. First years compete against the other first years, first the guys and then the girls.

9S joins the rest of his class to cheer on his classmates at the relay but he’s mostly just hoping it will be over soon (and that their class beats 801S’ class even though neither of them are participating. Just because.) since he’s looking more forward to seeing 2B run. He asked her the day before what she would be doing and she mentioned she was picked to be the captain for their class in the relay. Considering that she had just transferred, he had been a bit surprised and 2B explained it was simply because they had been having running drills and her classmates notices she had the best time, simple as that.

To 9S, it wasn’t ‘simple’ but a proof of just how amazing she is.

Their class got the 6th place, 801S’ got the 5th. Damn it.

9S sits down to wait for the second year relays and passes the time by chatting about nothing in particular with 4S.

Finally, the main event for 9S is about to start and his eyes follow as 2B makes her way to her station. If she’s nervous, she’s not showing it as she stretches her legs with a composed expression.

_His crush is the coolest._

The relay starts and the second-year section of the student body erupts in cheers, with several first-years joining in too, cheering for their senpais the best they can.

The race is fairly even, 2-3 (2B’s class) taking the lead for the first two runners. However, at the third runners, 2-5 manages to catch up and by fourth runners, they pass 2-3 just barely, and 2-2 isn’t far behind either.

The crowd gets more excited and louder as the batons are passed to the captains one by one. Captains are usually the best runners of the lot and everyone is excited to see the climax of the relay.

As soon as 2B gets baton she sprints to a run and god, she looks amazing. Her beautiful white legs are slicing through the air as she runs at her full might and the gap between her and the leading team’s captain grows shorter every time her feet touch the ground.

The sounds of basically the entire second-year student body cheering the relay runners on nearly breaks 9S’ eardrums. The corner of his eye catches 4S covering his ears with a small grimace. Before he knows it, 9S is standing up from the ground and joining the cheering legion of students, wanting to support 2B.

2B soon reaches the captain of class 2-5, who in turn seems to push herself harder at the sight of competition and they run side by side, so close that it’s hard to tell who’s first. The sight is making 9S’ poor heart beat out of sheer tension.

Before he even notices it himself, he’s folding his hands into a cone around his mouth and yelling “YOU CAN DO IT, 2B! YOU CAN DO IT!“ on top of his lungs. 2B’s bit of the track is quite a distance from where he’s standing so there’s a good chance his words of encouragement drown in the sea of cheering student and never reaches 2B’s ears. That doesn’t matter. He just wants to cheer 2B on.

9S feels like he finally understands why some people enjoy watching sports. This is pretty exhilarating!

2B seems to push herself to the limit at the last meters, and it pays off as she crosses the finish line first. The crowd erupts in cheers, 9S among them.

“Can you tone it down a little bit?! You’re giving me a migraine,” 4S grumbles from his side as 9S celebrates by jumping up and down and pumping his fist. In the heat of the moment, 9S doesn’t even really notice the amused looks he’s getting from the rest of his classmates.

9S is just about to run and congratulate 2B when he sees that most of her classmates (6O and the other relay runners in the frontlines) had the same idea as they surround 2B with excited smiles and what he guesses are words of praise. He stops before he has the time to take the first step to her direction as he watches the scene from afar.

Right. It’s not really his place to be right now, he thinks to himself, but unable to sit back down yet.

Instead, he smiles gently as he watches 2B enjoy her victory. At first, she looks more surprised than anything when her classmates surround her, but soon her expression softens into a smile. The swarm of her classmates blocks his vision, but his eyes still search for even the tiniest glimpse of 2B’s face.

His efforts are rewarded, as a taller girl from her class finally moves out of the way, and 9S witnesses 2B’s laughing face as 6O hugs her.

9S has never seen her actually _laugh,_ not even in the multiple dream lives.

It might the happiest he has ever seen her.

Flustered by the discovery of yet another gorgeous expression of hers and feeling somewhat conflicted about not being a part of it, 9S finally sits back down on the ground. Or maybe he just kind of fell, he’s not too sure about the details.

“You’re not going to go say congrats?” 4S asks from his left side.

“… Nah. It’s her moment. I’ll tell her on the way home,” he answers, drawing his knees to his chest, never taking his eyes off of 2B’s direction as she and her class make their way back from the track.

“Growing up, huh.”

“Can you not?” 9S glares him with a pout and 4S realizes his terrible mistake as he watched his friend look like a grumpy toddler.

“You’re right, I take it back.”

“What’s that supp-“

“Hey, 9S!” someone taps 9S on his shoulder.

With a surprised yelp, 9S turns his head around to see 6B, accompanied by a couple of other girls in his class, peering down at him with curious smiles.

“Are you and 2B-senpai dating?”

“Wha-, no! W-where did you get that idea?!” 9S stammers as he feels the heat rise on his cheeks.

Although if it were up to him, they most definitely would be. Good thing that’s not what they asked.

“Oh, sorry! I’ve just seen you walk to school together a lot. Also, you called her just by her name while you were cheering her on, so we were just wondering, you know, if that’s how it was.”

The words are like a bucket of cold water poured directly on 9S’ head and he suddenly remembers everything he did in the heat of the moment while watching the relay. A wave of embarrassment washes over him.

No wonder they thought that. 9S would make the same guess if he were in their shoes. His eyes dart behind and he notices several other of his classmates looking at him with amused smiles or even some snickering or giggling. There’s no way that the fact that he’s pretty damn infatuated with 2B is still a secret, at least not to anyone in his class or to anyone else who just saw him cheer her on like a desperate idol fanboy.

He messed up.

He can only hope that 2B didn’t hear him.

Another girl, 11B, pipes up from next to her friend with a grin and a teasing tone, “Do you like her?”

Isn’t it obvious?! Why do they have to try to squeeze it out of him?!

“Uh, I-”

4S proves what a great friend he is (despite poking at 9S’ weak points constantly for his own amusement) by distracting the girls. “Look, third-year relays are about to start! Let’s cheer them on!” 9S gratefully stands up after 4S to cheer for their third-year senpais too (even though he doesn’t personally know any of the ones that are participating) and the girls, as well as some other classmates, join them in their cheer for the senpais’ last high school sports festival relay.

It’s not that 9S particularly cares whether or not other people know about his feelings for 2B. Hell, sometimes he’s so overcome with emotion over just how amazing and adorable she is that he just wants to scream “LOOK AT HER! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!” to the entire world.

Maybe he already kind of did with the way he was cheering 2B on during her relay.

Yet, he’s not sure what would happen if the word were to reach 2B too. Maybe she’d think it’s weird, that _he’s_ weird, and would start avoiding him or something. That’s the last thing he’d want. If 9S had to choose, he’d rather swallow his feelings forever if it meant he could always stay by her side. He’s had the practice for it anyway. Or some other version of him did, at least. He’s confident he could do it again, but of course he hopes that won’t be necessary.

Either way, it’s not like 9S is planning on keeping it a secret forever as the way things are now, but it’s still way too soon to confess his overabundant love for a person he met a little over a month ago. He wants to know this 2B better and he wants 2B to know him better too before any of that. Not to mention, he wants to be the person who she hears it from, not some random classmate that knows nothing about them.

And more than anything, 9S wants to be there to see what kind of a face 2B will make.

_____

“9S!”

2B calls out as she runs towards him at the main gate. 9S smiles as he greets her.

“Hi 2B-senpai! Ready to head home?”

2B bites her lip before saying, “Actually, some of my classmates are going to go to a karaoke place now to celebrate and I was invited along.”

9S knows it’s completely unreasonable, but somehow he feels like someone, maybe the world, is trying to take 2B away from him a little.

“Oh.”

“… Sorry.”

Maybe 9S didn’t hide his disappointment as good as he thought.

“Huh? You don’t need to apologize for something like that.” She really doesn’t, he’s just being dumb and his silly feelings shouldn’t get in the way of 2B’s life. 2B shakes her head and frowns.

“But you were probably waiting for me.”

“I didn’t wait that long, honestly. Don’t worry about it! Have fun with your friends!”

9S gives her the most encouraging smile as he can muster. 2B’s happiness is his top priority after all, and she seems to be happy when she’s surrounded by friends.

Does 9S still feel just slightly bad about 2B picking karaoke session with classmates he doesn’t know over a simple walk home alone with him? Dumb as it may be, yes. Would he feel better if he could join her and hear her sing and maybe catch another glimpse of that smile and or hear her laugh? Absolutely.

Is there anything he can do about it? No. He can’t be a part of every single dimension of her life and from what he’s heard about healthy relationships, he shouldn’t be.

Not that they’re in a relationship, but still. 9S is building a foundation here.

“Okay. I’ll go now, everyone’s waiting on the other side of the school building,” 2B waves at him with a small ‘bye’ and jogs towards the school building.

“Oh, right! 2B-senpai!” he calls out a couple a second later, causing 2B to stop and turn around to look at him.

“I just wanted to say, uh, congrats! On the relay, I mean. You were amazing.”

 _Did I say too much?_ 9S worries immediately after. 2B looks surprised for a millisecond before smiling at him.

“Thanks.”

At least he got to say that much.

Feeling slightly better for getting those words off of his ‘Things I want to tell 2B’-list, 9S turns around to head home with a wave before 2B’s voice stops him.

“Oh, and 9S?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for cheering me on.”

Her smile is so soft and sweet that 9S swears he sees a hint of a halo floating above her head when she turns around to run to where her friends are waiting.

His voice reached her. 2B heard him over that loud crowd. Out of all the people screaming and cheering, she managed to pick out his voice amidst it all. She didn’t chastise him for dropping ‘senpai’ from her name while cheering, just thanked him with that angelic smile of hers.

Aah. It’s silly really, to be this happy about something as simple as that. 9S brushes his hair back with his hand with a small sigh and turns around to go home.

Sports festivals are the best.

_____

A little after 9S arrives home, he realizes he never remembered to thank 2B for cheering him on too and wonders if he should just text her right away or just wait until he sees again on Monday.

_“I realized I forgot to thank you for cheering me on too. Thank you, 2B-senpai. Hope you’re having fun with your friends!”_

She’s probably too busy with her classmates to check the message now anyway or it could end up distracting her a bit. She deserves to bond with her classmates. It can be kind of difficult to fit in a class once the cliques have formed and maybe 2B has been lonely. 9S doesn’t really know, but he’s mostly seen her around 6O at school. Maybe she wants more friends, and this is a prime opportunity for her to make some.

2B deserves all the love in the world, including her friends and classmates. Not just his. 9S has seen glimpses in his dreams how possessive the android 9S was over the dream 2B and it scares him a little. The 9S he is now is different. He honestly hopes she can make a lot of friends and be the happiest she can possibly be.

He should wait. That way he will get to see her smile too, probably.

…

_Message sent._

Still, there’s nothing bad about wanting the person you like to be reminded of your existence when they’re getting to know new people and forging new relationships… right? Being passive won’t make 2B pick him out of all the other better looking, older and just overall more interesting people.

9S puts his phone down, not expecting a reply, and decides to distract himself with some homework; the exams aren’t that far off and he’s been somewhat distracted, to put it mildly. On top of that, he’s still had his club activities and his part-time job, so the time he’s spend on schoolwork has been much less than what his teachers are expecting of him. Good thing he’s pretty smart and it doesn’t take all that much effort from him to catch up.

Maybe 9S can’t impress 2B with his athletic skills, but maybe she will still be a little impressed with his school record.

When he checks his phone again an hour later, it shows that 2B has read his text but there was no reply. That’s alright, 9S wasn’t expecting one anyway. It’s just nice to know that 2B spared those couple of seconds for him alone.

Someday he will have the courage to ask her to go to karaoke with him too, just the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Completely unrelated, but "Ever the same" by Rob Thomas has been giving me serious 2B/9S feels lately. Just wanted to share that.  
> Man, would that make a great GMV.


	6. Chili

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9S suffers both physically and emotionally but not much more than usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took longer to write this than what it was supposed to because once again, I changed what I wanted in this chapter like everytime I sat down to write. But hey, here it is!
> 
> Edit: I also changed my alias because this is the one I actually use nowadays. Just in case someone was wondering what happened to the weird ass alias I used to have

9S has a problem.

_“I have a favor to ask. Do you have time?”_

Normally, on literally any other day, he would immediately say yes and cancel whatever plans he had, because _of course_ he has time for 2B. Unfortunately, this time he has made plans to go and hang out at 4S’ place for some quality ‘bros beating each other up in video games’ –time, which is long overdue enough as it is.

If 9S was really only planning to chill, he might have asked 4S to do it some other time, but they hadn’t been hanging out at all outside of school since before summer break now. 9S is planning to ask 4S if there’s something going on in his life that he wanted to talk about, and if so, help his friend out in any way he can or at the very least lend his ear if there’s nothing else he can do.

9S feels like a shitty friend for considering postponing their gaming session to help 2B with whatever it is that she needs. Hell, 4S would probably be okay with it, he’s nice like that. But the whole point of today was to be a little _less_ shitty of a friend so postponing seeing the said friend for 2B would kind of just defeat the whole point.

2B isn’t going anywhere, she lives two floors above him. 9S sees her 5-6 mornings a week. He can deal with not seeing her the one day he’s made plans with 4S.

He sighs to himself and, with more reluctance than he’d like to admit, types out,

_“I’m sorry, I already have some plans and I probably won’t be home until late. ( ; ω ; )”_

_“I see.”_

Damn it. Is she disappointed? Did he leave 2B in trouble?

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he was just _a little_ bit late, right?

 _“What do you need help with? I haven’t left yet, so I can still maybe help you before I go?”_ he quickly types out.

The reply takes a while and for a moment 9S wonders if he managed to upset 2B, even though objectively speaking that would be ridiculous. She’s not expecting him to at her beck and call 24/7 because she’s a reasonable person. It’s 9S himself that feels like it’s his duty to be there to support her in any way possible at any time of the day.

_“I was just wondering if you could teach me how to cook.”_

The text almost makes 9S dance in excitement in his tiny apartment. Hell yes! He’s been struggling to gather the courage to ask her to have dinner with him again but the furthest he’s got was a not-so-subtle hint that if she ever wanted to come over for dinner, he’d be cool with that.

2B didn’t seem to really react to it at the time, but maybe she did catch his drift and his efforts had paid off. Or maybe this was the universe rewarding him for making the morally correct choice of not ditching his friend over a girl.

_“With pleasure! I don’t think I have the time for that today, but are you free tomorrow night?”_

_“Sure.”_

Smiling triumphantly, he writes _“It’s a date!”_ without really thinking about it.

His finger hovers over the ‘send’ button for a moment, hesitating. Maybe that’s coming on a bit strong? He meant in a platonic sense, but maybe she won’t see it the same way. Then again, she doesn’t seem like the person that reads too deep into something like a simple text.

Ugh, texting is hard since he actually has a chance to not spit out the first thing that comes to mind without second-guessing and overanalyzing everything.

Not to say it’s a bad thing, it’s just tiring to constantly overthink everything.

Ultimately he decides to erase his original text and replaces with _“See you tomorrow! (´_ _･_ _ᴗ_ _･_ _` )”_

9S goes back to playing a game on his phone as he was doing before 2B texted him. He still has approximately 15 minutes before he needs to go, might as well burn some of that time.

Couple of minutes later his phone beeps again.

 _“See you tomorrow,”_ accompanied with a sticker of a simple bunny character giving a thumbs-up and 9S can’t help but smile.

_Adorable._

_____

4S grins smugly once again at pouting 9S as his character does it’s victory celebration while 9S’ character crosses the finish line five seconds later.

“Can’t you target the NPCs sometimes? Do you have a personal grudge against me or something?”

“Take it as a compliment: I find you more threatening than the NPCs so I have to obliterate you.”

“You’re only winning because you get to practice every day.”

“You think I play Mario Kart alone every day? I’m not that sad of a person.”

“But you’re a big nerd.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t. I just play better games when I don’t have company to entertain.”

“Well _excuse me_ for wanting to hang out with my friend! I had to blow off 2B for you today, you know.”

“And you’re still breathing?” 4S mutters, probably without thinking as he looks like he looks guilty immediately after.

“I knew it, something _is_ bothering you. Is it 2B? Do you not like her for some reason?”

4S sighs and puts down his controller.

“9S, I don’t honestly even know her. I haven’t literally said a word to her since we went to look for her the first day of school. I don’t really have a reason to like or to dislike her.”

“Then what is it?”

4S turns his eyes away from 9S.

“… I have a feeling you know.”

“… I’ve been talking about her a lot lately, haven’t I?”

“To put it lightly.”

It’s nothing short of what 9S expected, but that doesn’t make him feel any less bad. His eyes wander to his own toes and he squeezes the controller slightly.

“… Sorry.”

He sees 4S lazily shaking his head out of the corner of his eye.

“You don’t have to feel _that_ guilty about it. I mean, I kind of get it. You’re head over heels for her and it feels amazing. You only talk about her so much because you probably can’t really even think about much else in the first place. I get it. I just… Not everyone is as invested in her as you are, and it gets kind of tiring to have the same topic for nearly two months now.”

“I know. But… that’s not even the whole reason I feel bad.”

9S turns to look at 4S, who is staring back at him with a quizzical expression. 9S takes that as a sign to continue.

“I noticed during the sports festival that you seemed happier than usual and that made me realize that you hadn’t been your usual self for a while now, or up until that day at least… Is there something going on with you?”

“… Took you over a month to notice?”

“Uh, better late than never?”

4S snorts. “I guess. I didn’t really realize I had been acting any different so I can’t blame you. You’ve been so excited about 2B-senpai that I didn’t really feel like spoiling your parade with my problems.”

“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a shitty friend lately and I want to make up for it. Do you want to talk about it?”

4S hums while fiddling with his controller.

“I don’t know if I want to go into details since I’ve gotten over it for the most part. I think I mentioned it in the passing at some point, but the main thing is that A2 moved across the ocean.”

“Oh right, your girlfriend! I’m sorry, I completely forgot about that.”

“She’s still not my girlfriend,” 4S reminds him with a small smile, “but yeah, it just… stinks. We still keep in touch to some extend but the time difference makes it difficult. Not to mention, she’s busy getting used to American life now and sometimes it can take her days to message me back with a simple ‘ok’ or ‘lol’.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“And, uh, I’m really sorry for just… constantly talking about how nice it’s going with 2B and all that. That probably didn’t make it any easier.”

He really has been even worse of a friend than he initially thought and it blows. He wouldn’t have bragged about the progress with 2B if he knew his friend was trying to get over a girl he likes.

God, what an inconsiderate ass he’s been.

“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, it’s not like we were actually dating.”

4S smiles again but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“So, nothing happened during summer when you went to see her?”

“Nothing romantic, no. We just hung out, she completely annihilated me at some arcade games while I beat her in some others. Then we had some burgers and wished each other well at the end of the day.”

“Sounds like a date.”

“I’ve done the literal same stuff with you though.”

“Good point.”

“I had fun though, so I don’t have any regrets or anything.”

“That’s good at least. I hope you get to see her again sometime. Maybe then she’ll realize what an amazing guy she’s been missing out on.”

4S chuckles a bit at that and 9S tentatively smiles along.

“Thanks. She’s way out of my league, but it’s nice to know at least you think I’m a catch.”

“Absolutely! You’re a straight ten out of ten! Any woman would be lucky to have you.”

“Aww, stop it already! Wanna play another round?”

“Sure, but I’ll take Mario this time!”

“Be my guest.”

The boys start a new race and while 4S has a strong start, he notices that 9S is doing significantly better than the last round. In fact, 9S is right at his heels when they finish the first lap.

“Oh right, I forgot to mention something.”

“What?”

“You mentioned 2B has a sister, right?”

“Yeah, an older twin, why?”

9S manages to boost ahead of 4S as the latter just barely dodges the banana peel dropped directly in front of him. 4S bites his lip and decides to concentrate on the game.

“… No reason.”

Only a bit more until the finish line and 9S is still in the lead, but not by much. 9S is putting all his focus on the TV screen to make sure he doesn’t run into any obstacles that would inevitably let 4S fly past him and steal yet another victory.

Just as 9S is feeling confident that he will win this round, 4S suddenly speaks up next to him.

“I’m pretty sure A2 and 2B are sisters.”

“WHAT?!” 9S flips his head around in shock, only to see 4S still has his eyes glued on the screen with a grin.

Shit. 9S returns his eyes to the screen only to see his character driving off the road into the void seconds away from the goal while 4S’ speeds across the finish line. 9S glares at the screen and then at his friend who is covering his mouth with a hand to hold back his laughter.

That was just plain _dirty._

Putting the controller down before he hurls it at 4S or the TV, 9S lies on his back on the floor in defeat. The glare of the lamp is strong and 9S lazily drapes his right arm over his eyes.

“Were you serious or did you just do that to be a dick?”

“Both.”

“How can you tell they’re sisters? Did you tell A2 about her or something?”

“No.”

“Then h-“

“They’re _identical_ twins.”

9S peeks at him from under his arm.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier then?”

“Honestly, I didn’t even notice it the first day. I thought 2B-senpai looked really similar to A2, but their styles are so different that I didn’t realize they’re identical until after couple of days.”

”What do you mean?” 9S asks while sitting back up.

“Well, A2 has long hair that covers half of her face, for starters, and she has this almost rough feel to her. When we met, she was wearing worn-out jeans and a wrinkled T-shirt. She has a cruder way of speaking than 2B-senpai does and she swears quite a bit. She also has this unapologetic, kind of rebellious attitude to life. Like, she goes her own way and doesn’t give a damn about what others think about it.”

None of that necessarily sounds like praise to 9S.

“And you _like_ her _?_ ”

“What? You don’t think that sounds like the coolest person ever?” 4S asks, looking sincerely surprised as if 9S was the weird one here. This A2 person does sound pretty much the polar opposite of 2B and 2B is, in fact, _the_ coolest person to have ever existed. If anything, she kind of sounds like the type of person he wouldn’t get along with great.

He didn’t expect this kind of a taste from the fairly timid friend of his that he got to know online several years ago. 4S has gotten snarkier since then and now 9S is wondering if this A2 person is to blame.

“Uh… I guess? I mean, I haven’t met her so it’s hard to say.”

Well, each to their own. Besides, it’s probably a good thing that their taste in girls is drastically different. Having 4S swoon over 2B would probably be the worst thing he could ever think of.

_____

“I’ll pay.”

The next day, 9S invited 2B to go shopping for the groceries with him before their first cooking lesson straight after school but now he’s wondering if that was a mistake as they’re standing in line to the register and 2B grabs her wallet from her bag.

“Huh? No, I can’t let you do that, 2B-senpai! I picked the groceries and some of them were a bit fancier than necessary. I’ll pay.”

“But you’re taking the time and effort to teach me how to cook so the least I can do is to pay for the ingredients.”

“I’ll be eating the same food too, so it’s fine!”

“… I’ll pay.”

“I can’t let you pay for my shopping!”

“Half of it is for me so it’s fine.”

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

“It’s a matter of pride. Men like to take care of things for girls, it makes us feel big and strong. By not letting me pay you’re hurting my pride and dignity as a _man._ ”’

2B gives him her trademark deadpan look.

“That’s dumb.”

“Maybe, but you get my point. Have some pity and let me pay.”

2B knits her brows together in thought and 9S hopes it means she’s considering his feelings here. Suddenly, her eyes focus somewhere behind him and she lifts her finger to point somewhere behind him.

“9S, isn’t that 4S?”

“Huh, where?”

9S turns around to search for his friend but he can’t find him.

“Over there at the pet food isle.”

What the hell is 4S doing with pet food?

“Pet food? Why is he- are you sure? I can’t see him.”

“That’ll be 1008 yen, please.”

Wait, no!

By the time he turns back around he discovers that he has been bamboozled as he watches the cashier pass the change into 2B’s hands. 2B pretends not to see the disappointed expression he’s shooting her way but her lips are twitching suspiciously.

Everyone around him is a cheater.

9S pouts as he grabs the grocery bag and the two begin making their way home in silence, since 2B is not usually the one to start the conversation and 9S is feeling both stupid for being tricked that easily and inadequate for the fact that 2B ended up paying for the groceries anyway.

Why couldn’t she just let him pretend to be able to provide for her for one shopping trip?

Noticing 9S’ rare sour mood, 2B sighs to herself quietly.

“… You can pay next time.”

Her words cause 9S to lift his eyes off the ground and to look at her. He’s pleasantly surprised and almost slips a smile before catching himself. Wait. He’s not going to yield in that easily after being played like that.

“… I’ll pay any time we cook together in the future.”

“No. I’ll pay two times out of three.”

9S’ jaw falls slack as he looks at 2B incredulously.

“Not fair! I’ll pay nine times out of ten!”

“That’s just unreasonable,” 2B frowns and it’s kind of cute.

“The lowest I’ll go is four times out of five,” he shrugs nonchalantly, desperately holding back a grin when he notices 2B purse her lips in frustration.

“But you’re making the effort to teach me. As a payment, I should pay more.”

“You can pay me by letting me pay.”

“That… doesn’t make any sense.”

2B shakes her head and glares at him and 9S wonders if he should feel guilty about enjoying her frustration this much. Her expressions are so cute it’s kind of addicting.

“Sure, it does! I’m doing you a favor so I get to pick the compensation. I pick paying for the ingredients.”

2B sighs in obvious annoyance and picks up her pace enough to force 9S to speed-walk to keep up with her, openly grinning now that 2B is walking in front of him and can’t see his face.

“... If you’re going to make it this difficult then forget about it. I’ll ask someone else.”

That effectively wipes the grin off his face. Did he take it too far? Probably should’ve stopped at the four times out of five –mark when she first started to look annoyed.

“Noo! I’m sorry! Don’t be angry, 2B-senpai, I was just joking!” he whines behind her in a totally grown-up manner and not at all like a five-year-old begging for a confiscated toy back. It doesn’t seem to help as 2B keeps going forward like a steamboat without as much as a glance his way.

“I’ll give you pudding! I’ll even teach you to make some later! So please, don’t be mad,” he desperately tries to bargain and puts his hands together in a begging gesture, the shopping bag dangling on his left wrist.

Thankfully, the bargaining seems to work as 2B slows down so that he can catch up to her.

“... Fine,” she says while still frowning at him with icy eyes, warning 9S against pushing another button.

They walk together in silence for a moment, but 9S, who isn’t good with uncomfortable silence like this, speaks up after a couple of minutes.

“How about we go 50-50?”

2B stops for a second and 9S wonders if he should’ve just dropped the subject completely and he turns away, nervous about seeing another angry glare cast his way.

“Deal,” she says instead and 9S looks up to see her smiling a little.

_____

Apparently, 2B doesn’t have much experience with cooking. Her parents were both busy with work and often came home too late to start cooking, so her big sister took over cooking they were 13 so that they wouldn‘t have to eat ready-meals constantly. 2B says she offered to help, but her sister dismissed her attempts and insisted 2B should just focus on her kendo and school.

… Let’s just say it shows. Last time she had helped 9S, she mostly just chopped vegetables and stirred the sauce pot while he took care of everything else and he was lulled into false sense of security.

“Ah, wait 2B-senpai-“

But it’s too late. 9S watches in terror as 2B pours a _generous_ amount of chili into the curry sauce before he finishes his sentence. 2B looks up from the food.

“What?”

“It’s just, uh, you might want to be careful with spices.”

“Oh? I thought you put this much curry mix too.”

Not really. He used half as much curry mix but maybe she couldn’t really tell.

“Well, yeah, pretty much, but you want to be extra careful with strong spices like chili or pepper… Uh, do you like hot curry?”

“The hotter the better.”

“… Good.”

Then maybe 2B has a chance of enjoying the beast of a sauce she made.

“What about you?”

“Me?” 9S asks, a bit taken aback. 2B has gotten more comfortable talking to him in general, but it’s still fairly rare to hear her ask anything about him.

“Do you like your curry hot?”

“Yeah!” he quickly lies with a smile.

He doesn’t. He usually picks medium hot at the store, tops. A little hotness is nothing he can’t handle and it can add to a dish, but actually hot food is just painful to the point where he can’t really taste anything. On a grade from one to three of hotness, this sauce will probably be at around four or five based on the amount of chili 2B dumped into the pot.

2B returns his smile and resumes cooking while 9S gulps. His acting skills will be put to test tonight because he absolutely does not want to make 2B feel bad about the first real dish she’s made (mostly) herself. That would just make her feel bad for no good reason and maybe even discourage her from cooking with him. 9S can’t have that.

The sauce looks good otherwise. Maybe it won’t be as bad as he fears.

_____

The moment of truth arrives fast, but 9S has prepared himself for any outcome. He spent the last several minutes rehearsing in his heads exactly what he is going to say when he has his first bite. For good measure, he takes a carton of milk from the fridge and pours himself a glass. That should help him at least a little bit.

“2B-senpai, you should have the first bite! You made it after all.”

If it’s too hot for 2B, then she’s not going to believe he’s okay with it either, or at the very least it’s going to be a whole lot harder to fool her. Which is why he wants to peek at her reaction first before doing anything himself.

She did say she likes hot, but maybe this much will be too much for her too.

“… Alright,” she says while eyeing the food before carefully scooping up some with a spoon. She gently blows on it (as it is still fresh from the stove) before putting the spoon in her mouth. After a couple of seconds of chewing she smiles, looking almost excited.

Phew. At least she likes the food. That’s a good start.

“Is it good?”

“I like it, thanks. It’s hotter than I expected though. You should try it,” she says and 9S braces himself.

“Well, don’t mind if I do…”

Okay, big picture. 9S does still get to eat 2B’s cooking which is a blessing in and of itself. His tastebuds are a small sacrifice for something as precious as a chance to partake in the first dish she ever successfully made herself. And, there’s nothing in the world he wouldn’t do to protect that proud smile of hers.

Following her example, he blows on his spoonful before eating, which he immediately realizes was a wasted effort. His mouth couldn’t possibly burn any more than it does now, but he forces his face to relax and closes his eyes, hoping it comes off as him savoring the taste rather than holding back tears while what feels like the flames of hell itself consume his defenseless mouth.

2B _enjoyed_ this? He’s not sure if he should be more impressed or scared.

9S manages to swallow the mouthful and feels the burning trail travel down his throat and, no matter how hard he tries to hold it back, he starts coughing. Guess his acting skills aren’t enough to hold back natural reflexes. Maybe he can still save the situation by passing it off as choking on the food.

Wouldn’t be the first time she sees something like that from him anyway.

“S-sorry, I think I accidentally inhaled some of down my windpipe,” he tries with a smile and 2B eyes him suspiciously.

“… Do you like it?”

“Yeah! It’s great! You’re a natural at cooking, 2B-senpai.”

“So it’s not too hot for you?”

“It’s… it’s a little hotter than what I usually make, but nothing I can’t handle.”

He gulps down some milk and goes for the second bite, which somehow just feels even worse than the first and the hotness seems to spread across his entire body. He wipes off some of the moisture that’s gathering on his forehead.

Too focused on surviving the battle of him vs. chili, it takes him couple of spoonfuls to notice 2B has stopped eating. Instead, she’s staring at him with an unreadable expression, but the smile is definitely gone.

“What is it? You don’t like it?” he asks before greedily gulping down some more milk.

“No, I do. I’m just wondering why you’re lying.”

“What do you mean?“

“You should’ve told me it’s too hot for you.”

“It’s not! See?” he exclaims and, to reassure her, stuffs his face with some more of the hot curry. 2B only frowns at him.

“9S, your entire face is red and you’re sweating.”

“… This is just how I look when I eat something I like?”

That earns him a sound that almost sounds like a snort but it’s too soft to qualify as one.

“Just- stop eating! Here, have some more milk,” 2B insists while quickly refilling his glass of milk and pushing it towards him. 9S reluctantly accepts the glass and gulps it down, letting the last gulp of milk sit in his mouth for a few seconds to ease the burning before swallowing.

“… Maybe it is a little hot for me. Sorry...”

Unable to meet her gaze, he focuses on poking the food around with his spoon.

“I don’t see a reason for you to apologize. I know you’re trying to protect my feelings but it’s unnecessary. I don’t take your tolerance level of chili personally, you know.”

Her tone is gentle, if not a little exasperated, and 9S dares to look at her for a second before turning his gaze away again.

“Oh. You could tell, huh.”

Why does he have to be so pathetic that 2B has to comfort him over something as dumb as food?

“It was pretty obvious.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be. I just… I didn’t want you to feel bad about your first cooking lesson with me, so…”

“Thought so. I appreciate your concern, but for future reference, I appreciate honesty more. How will I learn if you don’t give me constructive feedback?”

“… Guess you got me there."

Silence falls over them as 9S mentally kicks himself for being such a loser that he had to get lectured by the girl he’s trying to impress while 2B slowly resumes eating her own portion. Unhappy with the silence and the sour mood he had created, 9S is trying to think of something to say.

His first instinct is to apologize, but he has a feeling that will just earn him a frown. He could try to say something about how the food was still great, even though he honestly couldn’t tell over the onslaught of chili. While 9S is taking his time mulling over his options, 2B takes the initiative and simply asks,

“So, what now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You still need to eat something. Is there any way to salvage the leftover sauce?”

“Um, I don’t think so. You can’t really take spices out of a sauce. But it’s fine! I think I have some instant ramen somewhere so it’s not like I have to go to sleep hungry or anything!”

2B doesn’t look too convinced at his suggestion so 9S decides to stand up and go through his cupboards. He quickly finds the instant ramen but notices a single forgotten pack of sauce at the end corner of the shelf and grabs it instead.

”What’s that?”

”Oh, just a creamy vegetable sauce mix. I forgot I had it, I was just wondering if I should make this instead.”

“Does it take long to prepare?”

“No, just a few minutes. There’s still some rice left from our food to go with it too.”

“Should I make it for you?”

What is she, a saint? That offer sounds too good to refuse but he tries anyway out of courtesy.

“Huh? You don’t have to do that, you already cooked dinner for the both of us.”

“Dinner that you can’t eat.”

“Hardly your fault.”

“It was a little. I’m almost done with my food anyway. You can just sit and watch the TV or something.”

2B smiles at him and 9S can’t help but smile back. Maybe he should let her have this, she probably just wants to make up for the curry.

“… Alright. Thanks, 2B-senpai.”

2B chews her food thoughtfully while 9S sits back down and grabs the remote to see if there’s anything at least mildly entertaining to watch.

“… You don’t have to say that every time,” 2B says in a small voice after a moment and 9S turns to look at her, confused. 2B doesn’t meet his gaze but studies her almost empty plate instead.

“Say what?”

“You don’t have to call me senpai when we’re alone like this. It’s long and besides, you’re the one always helping me, not the other way around. It feels… weird.”

“2B.”

9S whispers it before he even thinks about it and 2B looks up from her plate and their eyes meet.

“S-sorry, I just wanted to try it out.”

2B tilts her head just slightly and smiles and 9S feels like he’s melting into a little puddle of pure adoration under her gaze. He didn’t expect he’d get to call her by her name this soon but it feels so amazing he wants to cry.

They gaze at each other for a moment before 2B breaks the eye-contact to take the final bite of her food. As 2B stands up to take away her plate and to prepare his food, 9S starts,

“2B, you can also call m-“

The words die in his throat as images of 2B covered in blood – his blood – course through his mind.

The tears streaming down her face as she winces, as if plunging her sword through him physically pains her just as much as him and she whispers apologies and the beloved nickname of his like a prayer.

She does it nearly every time they have to say their goodbye until she’s the one at the receiving end of a sword herself.

That one time she did not cry or apologize. Instead she sighed his name with tired smile, visibly relieved for reasons he didn’t entirely understand at the time.

“9S, are you okay?”

That was odd. He usually only experiences these things when he’s asleep, not when he’s wide awake.

“Huh? Oh yeah, just spaced out there for a second,” he shakes his head and refocuses his eyes on 2B to come back down to reality.

2B is still looking down at him, her pale blue eyes looking concerned as she leans down a little to get a better look at his face.

“You sure? You look kind of pale.”

 _They’re not the same person._ He remembers 4S saying that a while back. Honestly, it’s still hard for 9S to see the two 2Bs as different people. They look and sound the same and hell, they even have then same name. Their personalities are the same with the single exception that this 2B is allowed to express it.

Yet somehow, in this moment 9S feels acutely aware that this isn’t entirely the same 2B as the one he’s familiar with in his dreams. This 2B has never hurt him, betrayed him or cried over him.

The 9S he is now is no one special to the 2B in front of him.

“Really, it’s nothing, 2B.”

“… Alright. Anyway, you were saying something?”

This 2B is kind. Of course, the 2B in his dreams was kind too, but not as openly because of the whole no feelings allowed protocol; the acts of kindness from her were often subtle enough that someone who didn’t know her as well as he did might have not seen them as that.

This 2B shows him kindness every time he spends time with her in form of smiles and occasional praise and help.

Meanwhile ‘Nines’ was the single greatest show of affection the 2B in his dreams was ever able to give him.

“Ah, it’s… I forgot,” he says and gives her a smile, hoping it looks genuine enough.

2B doesn’t look entirely convinced but nevertheless replies with a simple “I see” before starting on his dinner.

9S watches her back absentmindedly as she busies herself at the stove, pouring the mix into the water and stirring it thoroughly while waiting it to boil.

If everything goes well, he can spend the rest of his life with the 2B standing and breathing right in front of him. A lifetime of affection, countless acts of kindness and intimate secrets.

As much as he wants to hear 2B call him ‘Nines’ again, he has a feeling it wouldn’t be the same coming from this 2B. She doesn’t know the significance of it, she doesn’t know the good or the bad memories connected to it and she has no idea what it means to him.

Because this 2B isn’t the one who gave it to him.

9S still loves the 2B who called him ‘Nines’ too, and although he will most likely never have the chance to meet her in this life, he can keep this one nickname a secret just between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to make curry, I stink at cooking myself.


	7. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exam stress + 2B finally doing some kendo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know the actual timeline of school sport competitions so I'm selfishly making it fit my pace. I was in chess club where we never even played chess so I wouldn't know about competitions.

There isn’t a single student in the universe that enjoys exams.

Lucky for 9S, he’s always been kind of smart and he’s always had a good memory for trivial knowledge, which means that he doesn’t have to stress the midterms nearly as much as the rest of his peers. That’s not to say he doesn’t have to do a generous amount of cramming too, but that isn’t for the sake of passing the exams but for the sake of absolutely _nailing_ them so that the school won’t force him to quit his job.

The average grade minimum they require from their students wanting to work on the side is 90 (out of the maximum grade of 100), which is just borderline bullying in 9S’ opinion. That kind of a requirement will just force diligent but financially unstable students to work themselves to death before adulthood. The more ethical choice would probably just be to ban working altogether and encourage the students pick another school that isn’t as strict about working. However, he keeps his thoughts to himself (and his friends), since he still does need the money and he doesn’t want to give the school board any ideas.

Thankfully, the midterms only last for three days and the teachers work fast to grade everything so the whole ordeal is over quick, at least if you pass all the exams.

9S isn’t too worried about his own exams, but he’s been increasingly more worried about 2B. She has been visibly tense and stressed for days, and based on the dark circles under her eyes, she hasn’t been getting enough sleep either.

As frustrating as it is, there’s not much 9S can do to help her. She’s been going to 6O’s place after school most days to study together, which is good at least. 6O can come off as ditzy but she’s actually really smart (and patient) and hopefully she’s been able to help 2B with the cramming. Plus, 6O makes sure 2B has a good meal each night she’s over at her place. He checked that with 6O the other day just to make sure, since 2B hasn’t been coming to his place for dinner in little over a week at all

He can’t wait for the midterms to be over and done with so that she can finally relax and hopefully hang out with him more again.

“Good morning 2B!”

“Mornin’…”

She looks so tired it breaks his hurt. He just wants to turn her around, take her back to her place and tuck her in her bed.

“Are you alright? If you feel unwell you could just call in sick.”

“I’m fine. Just didn’t sleep that good last night.”

He bites his tongue so that he doesn’t mention the fact that she’s been saying that for days.

“How long did you sleep?”

“Maybe four hours.”

“That’s no good! You should get at least eight hours of sleep!”

“Had to study,” she mumbles, followed by a yawn.

“I know, but sleep is extremely important for learning, you know!” 9S lectures her. “Your brain needs to rest to archive everything you learned during the day. You won’t learn if you don’t sleep properly! Not to mention that lack of sleep makes it hard to focus and to absorb new information. Lack of sleep also disrupts your—”

“9S,” 2B interrupts him with a weak voice.

“What is it?”

“It’s… a lot.”

Right, she’s tired and no matter how good his intentions are, they’re probably not serving the purpose at this moment.

“Oh, sorry! I’m just worried…”

2B gives him a tired smile. “I know. Thanks.”

“If there’s anything I can do, just let me know. Is there some specific subject you’re nervous about or why are you studying so hard?”

“I want to get the permission to work.”

“Oh.”

The thought of 2B starting a job doesn’t exactly make 9S thrilled. They only managed to have a couple of nights cooking together before 2B decided to dedicate what seems to be all of her free time to studying. He’s still hoping they could cook dinner together most nights of the week after they’re done with the midterms, but he still does have to work one or two evening-shifts a week, sometimes more. What if 2B gets a similar schedule? That would leave them just a couple of days to hang out after school.

That wouldn’t exactly be the kind of progress he is hoping for. Not to mention, 2B is already this tired from cramming for the exams. If she manages to get a high enough GPA, she will still have to work hard to keep the grades from dropping. Seeing she’s not as academically gifted as he is, the best way for her to do so would be for her to enter a cram school, which would possibly eat up their possible time together too – and no doubt would it make her completely exhausted in the end.

“Why do you want to work? I thought your parents are taking care of you financially?”

2B nods. “Yeah, they are.”

9S frowns.

“Then why? It’s not easy working on the side of school, you know. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have to do it.”

She stays silent for a few seconds, seemingly searching for words.

“I want to be more… independent, I think.”

“Independent?”

“Like you.”

“Huh?”

“You take care of yourself and the people around you too, like a grown-up. I want to be able to do that too.”

2B doesn’t meet his eyes and, maybe he’s just imagining things, but she looks just a little embarrassed. She might be a few months older than him, but she does sometimes seem a little bit more immature. It’s kind of cute though, and 9S wouldn’t mind taking care of her from now on either. It’s nice to be relied on, and nothing makes him happier than being able to help her out.

But… She’s obviously given this some thought and she’s dedicated. Otherwise she wouldn’t be working half as hard for her exams.

That means the only thing left for 9S to do is to push his selfish and not-so-selfish concerns aside and cheer her on in any way he can, even if it’s just reminding her that she should sleep some more.

_____

97\. Definitely an admirable grade that most likely fills some of his classmates with jealousy, but 9S did get a full 100 on his spring semester finals so he wasn’t entirely happy with the dip. Not that it was all that surprising considering the fact that he’s been focusing on school probably less than he ever has in his life, but still. 97 is still well above the limit the staff has set for permitting part-time jobs, so he doubts anyone will hound him about the slightly falling grade as long as he does at least as good on his finals.

However, when he next sees 2B later that afternoon at the school gate, it’s obvious that she didn’t do as well as she had hoped.

“2B? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she says, but her lips tightened into a thin line and the way her fists are balled up in fists speak a different story.

“… I’m sorry.”

“Nothing you could have done about it.”

Her tone is kind of cold and 9S tries not to take it personally.

“… Maybe not, but I just feel bad for you. I saw how hard you worked for it.”

“… Yeah.”

“Maybe you’ll get there on your finals?”

He tries, but 2B shakes her head.

“I doubt it. I got 76.”

Ouch. That’s still quite the ways down the road.

An uncomfortable silence falls over them as 9S wracks his brain for any way to console her but is unable to come up with anything that doesn’t reek of pity. She doesn’t seem like the person that would appreciate empty promises of ‘I’m sure you’ll get it next time’ or anything of the like.

Mulling over his options, he decides that maybe a change of subject could be the way to go.

“Hey, do you want to come over and cook together again tonight? We can make anything you want!”

“I don’t think I have time today.”

“Oh. Plans with friends or something?”

“No, going to my dojo.”

“Dojo?”

“Yes. The regionals are starting in a little over a week and I need to practice. We only have club on three days a week and I’ve spend a lot of it helping the coach so I haven’t managed to get too much practice myself.”

“Damn, that’s a bad timing, with the midterms and all.”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m going to go get some extra training.”

“You must really like kendo, huh? Going out of your way to practice at a dojo on your free time.”

“… People are expecting me to do well at the competition.”

Here he was hoping that he’d have more time to hang out with 2B now that the midterms are over, but it seems like that’s out of the window. If he remembers right, she has her class trip coming up soon too, which will leave him completely 2Bless for three whole days.

Hopefully she will be able to sleep properly now at least.

“Hey, when is the competition?”

“November 7th, why?”

“Can I come watch? I’ll cheer you on!”

2B looks genuinely surprised.

“Are you sure? It lasts for two hours and it’s over an hour away on public transport.”

“Text me the address later and I’ll be there!” 9S smiles determinedly at her and some of her tension seems to melt away.

“Alright. Don’t feel obliged to come if you change your mind though. I know you’re busy too.”

“I’ll make the time, I promise.”

She finally cracks a small smile at that.

_____

The audience is fairly empty; some kids from her and the opponent team’s schools and some faculty. It’s a Saturday so no wonder; people would be more likely to come cheer for a competition if it got them out of school that day but only a few would sacrifice their day off for watching a competition they’re not participating in.

2B’s eyes scan the audience for 9S as she walks to the edge of the arena to wait for her own turn in competition, but to no avail. The match between the first two participants begins and 2B keeps glancing at the door on the opposite side of the hall every time a late spectator arrives. None of them are 9S.

Maybe he was too busy to come after all. Or maybe he just decided he’s not that interested. She wouldn’t blame him. Besides, she had told him herself it would be alright even if he changed his mind.

She wonders briefly if he sent her a message that she missed, but her phone is safe in the locker. Not that she would dare to check her phone in the middle of someone’s match either way. She’s the captain of the team now, and she has a duty of observing her clubmates’ performance for to offer them feedback.

A small sigh escapes her, and she feels oddly restless. She blames it on the lack of training she did prior to this competition but a part of her knows that’s not it.

The doors creak open again and her eyes dart to the direction of the sound immediately.

Black hair and the other school’s uniform.

Something falls in her chest, but she ignores it and focuses her attention on the match she has already missed most of.

_____

9S slowly opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is sunlight dancing across his walls through the thin curtain. It’s rare for him to wake up before his alarm, unless it’s a nightmare, and even rarer for him to wake up feeling this well-rested.

Wait. Well-rested? That doesn’t sound right.

He quickly grabs his phone sitting next to his pillow and lets out a cry.

9:24. 2B’s kendo thing starts at 10. _Shitshitshitshit…_

Jumping out of the bed, 9S hastily puts on the first pieces of clothing that he can find and grabs his phone, keys and wallet, pushing them into any pockets he can find on his clothes. He’s already opening his door to run out when he realizes he forgot something very important.

He turns on his heels and runs back to his apartment, not bothering to take off his shoes, and grabs a large piece of paper of his small table before heading out, rolling it up in his hands as he runs towards the nearest bus stop.

_____

By the time it’s 2B’s turn, there’s still not a sign of 9S to be seen. While she sits in the sidelines, her vision is limited to the seats facing her so she takes the opportunity to look around and check the seats behind her spot as she makes her way to the middle of the arena.

He’s not there either.

Ignoring the uncomfortable stinging feeling her chest, she takes a deep breath and forces the distracting thoughts out of her head. 9S or no 9S, she’s going to win this. She has never lost points over being distracted and she’s not about to start now either.

Her opponent and her both sit down to wait for a referee the start the match.

2B has always been good at kendo. She’s been doing it since she was five and her big sister, A2, insisted their parents she wanted to try it. 2B would copycat A2 a lot when they were growing up and so she ended picked it up too.

Kendo with A2 was fun; they seemed to be both naturally gifted at the sport and offered each other the competition no one else really seemed to be able to. That being said, A2 wasn’t a big fan of the rules (and neither was 2B, to be completely honest) so whenever they played alone in their backyard, they would play without any. Well, except for the no thrusting towards face –rule they settled on after A2 accidentally hit 2B’s eye bad enough that their grandma had to take her to the hospital. She had to wear an eye-patch for two weeks.

Now after years of training, 2B can beat a mediocre opponent of her own age group within in less than a minute. She has won several awards over the years in different competitions, especially after A2 quit kendo altogether in middle school and 2B lost her most challenging opponent in the tournaments. 2B is one of the best of her age group in the entire country, if not the best.

Which is why it’s weird that her opponent very nearly landed a hit on her just now. A rookie mistake, on 2B’s part. She frowns under her mask as realizes she was distracted enough by her thoughts to give her opponent an opening right at the start. The referees don’t seem to notice, as 2B still manages to counter the blow with her fast reflexes, but her opponent is aggressive and manages to use her momentary lack of attention to continuously deliver more attempts at scoring to the point where 2B is forced to focus on defensive maneuvers rather than offensive ones. Nothing to worry too much about, it’s nothing that she can’t recover from. She only needs to look for an opening bound to happen when the opponent gets too ambitious.

As 2B expected, her opponent soon takes a risk trying to land a hit while leaving her wrists wide open. 2B doesn’t let the opportunity slip and dodges the oncoming attack before swiftly landing her own. The referees acknowledge her point and 2B sigs in relief.

2B scores her second and winning point soon after they’re allowed to go back it now that she’s able to focus. The announcer declares her the winner and both of the competitors move back to the sidelines to give the space for the next pair.

_What was that?_

2B is better at kendo than this. Much better, in fact, and the performance she just gave was not up to the standard her clubmates, the school board, or anyone in the hall watching, is expecting of her.

She bites her lip before taking off her helmet to cool down her head, leaving her hair slightly messy, not that she cares. Results are what matter, not looks. Couple of her clubmates are looking at her with concern but she ignores them. She tries to keep her annoyance at her performance from showing on her face and digs her nails into the palms of her hands to quietly vent her emotions.

It must be the lack of daily practice. She hasn’t practiced this little since she was nine years old, and it seems to be deteriorating her skills faster than she could’ve ever imagined.

Kendo is the one thing she’s ever been actually good at. She’s not smart, nor is she artistic or musical. She’s not even that good at talking and she doesn’t know how to comfort 6O when she cries to her about her worries. She doesn’t know how to express herself well and even ended up upsetting 9S over groceries when all she wanted to do was to show him her appreciation.

But kendo she’s good at, and it seems like that too threatens to slip from her hands the second her life doesn’t revolve around it anymore. Was she out of line thinking that maybe she could–

She’s taken out of her thoughts by the sound of… panting? She looks up directly above her towards the source of the sound and finally finds the familiar face she had been looking for.

9S’ face is blotchy red and his forehead glistens with sweat in the fluorescent light as he seems fixated on staring at the two competitors in the middle of the arena as hard as he can, squinting his eyes in the process. His hair is mess, with an unruly cowlick pushing back half of his bangs.

He looks absolutely ridiculous and 2B can’t help but smile as her chest suddenly feels lighter than it has all day. Her breath bubbles and she quickly brings a hand up to cover her mouth to make sure she doesn’t let the laugher escape her lips.

9S seems to pick up on the odd sound still, as he turns to look down at her. He sighs quietly, looking relieved, and smiles warmly at her with a tiny wave. 2B glances at her coach – who is focusing on the match and not looking at her – and returns the gesture.

9S grins excitedly and opens up a scroll of paper he was holding in his hand and presents it to her.

It’s a pale blue, A3-sized poster with assorted decorative elements drawn on it, such as stars, bunnies, and squiggly lines, all of it framing the massive text in the middle.

_“GO, 2B, GO!”_

She looks back at him in surprise, and she’s met with a happy smile from the proud artist of the cheer poster dedicated to her.

Something squeezes inside her chest. A gentle wave of warmth spreads around her entire body and she smiles back, probably a bit wider than what she’s used to as it stings her cheeks slightly.

_____

9S doesn’t really understand the system here, nor does he actually give a crap about any of the other contestant, but he tries to pay attention for the sake of possible conversation topics later. Still, he can’t help glancing down at 2B every once in a while. Her hair is messy and it’s adorable. If he was allowed to, he would reach down and ruffle it more. How did that happen anyway?

His patience is rewarded after approximately 30 minutes as the announcer says 2B’s name and she gets up from her seat and puts on her headpiece before walking to the center of the arena to face her opponent. 9S holds up his poster and cheers her on, ignoring the fact that everyone else in the sport hall seems to be pretty quiet, as 2B and her opponent prepare for the match.

Kendo wasn’t something 9S had ever been interested in, but it’s similar to sword fighting so he is definitely interested in seeing if this 2B had some similar movement patterns as the one in his dreams. Obviously, this 2B isn’t some high-tech battle android (hell, there wouldn’t even be a contest to be held if she was), so he wasn’t expecting any leaps in the air or gracious twirls she would do while fighting machines.

The match begins, and sure enough, no twirls or jumps in the air – but _boy_ does she still look breathtaking. She carries her body with pride and elegance, never missing a step. Her strikes are like thunder; fast and loud as she yells each time she’s about to land a hit, accompanied with the sound of the bamboo swords clashing echoing in the sports hall.

He’s transfixed. It’s nothing like what he’s seen in his dreams but it is absolutely beautiful nevertheless. Her opponent seems to know their sport too, but they can’t even get close to the level of grace and speed 2B lashes at them and 2B is soon declared the victor, less than five minutes into the match.

Watching her fight makes his heart beat faster and kind of flustered because _damn,_ if that’s not the hottest thing he’s ever seen in his life, and that’s without even seeing her figure through the kendo clothes that, unlike the outfit dream-2B dons, leaves everything up to the imagination.

Seeing her wield the sword in her normal gym clothes would probably floor him.

No one else that follows seems to be able to keep up the same level as 2B, not even her own clubmates, and 9S wonders if her talent is wasted at a high school competition. Then again, he doesn’t know the sport. Everyone else here might just stink for all he knows, making 2B look amazing in contrast. He doubts that’s all it is though, because her quick movements look borderline superhuman and there’s no way that doesn’t count for actual mastery of the sport.

2B participates in one more match during the rest of the competition (and wins it with as much ease as the one he witnessed earlier) and their school is announced to move forward in the regionals, making people in the audience cheer or, at the very least, clap.

As the contestants disappear off to locker rooms to get changed, 9S decides to get up too and wait for 2B at the entrance. There’s a good chance she has plans to go celebrate their victory with her teammates, but it’s not like he has anywhere to be anytime soon. Might as well stay and congratulate her in person before he heads home. And, if she doesn’t have plans, he maybe he will have the guts to ask her to grab lunch with him.

_____

After 15 minutes or so, he catches 2B walking towards him out of the corner of his eye, and he puts his phone he’d been fiddling with back into his pocket to give 2B his undivided attention.

“Congratulations on winning! You looked so cool, I didn’t know people can move that fast!”

“Thanks,” she says with a soft chuckle, and she reaches her hand out towards him.

Any trail of thought he might have had vanishes into thin air when he feels 2B’s soft fingers weave through his hair, gently combing it down to the side. Her fingertips feel warm against his scalp and he feels like he might melt into a puddle right then and there.

 _Huh? HUH?! Wha-?! What’s happening?! Is 2B…_ petting _me??? Not that I mind, but what why all of a sudden, what’s going on—_

2B seems to notice his flustered distress and quickly retracts her hand. 9S misses it instantly. Why can’t he keep his cool for just this once?!

“Oh, sorry! I-, you had a pretty impressive cowlick there, s-so I just thought I’d fix it. Sorry for touching you out of the blue like that…”

Somewhere in the back of his head, 9S realizes he should probably feel at least a tiny bit embarrassed about walking around the city looking that disheveled, but there isn’t really room in him for any more emotions than… whatever this fluffy confusion is.

… He’s never going to fix his hair in the morning ever again.

“O-oh, n-n-no! I-it’s fine, don’t worry! H-how embarrassing, thanks for uh, taking care of it for me,” he laughs nervously after he somehow manages to get some words out his mouth. 2B looks kind of embarrassed too with a gentle pink hue adorning her cheeks and it both comforts him and makes his heart race faster.

“Okay…”

Uncomfortable silence falls for a few flustered seconds before they both try to break it at the same time.

“Do you—"

“I-If you’re—”

Their eyes meet and after the initial surprise, 9S manages to muster a nervous smile.

“Uh, you go first, 2B.”

“Alright. I was wondering if you want to go eat something? I’m kind of hungry and, well, I’m guessing you didn’t have time for breakfast?” She gestures in the general direction of his head and he finally feels a little embarrassed she had to see him like that.

Although the sheer joy of hearing 2B invite _him_ out to quickly makes him forget about it.

“Oh yeah, that’s true, I didn’t. Sorry for being late by the way. Apparently, I forgot to set the alarm to ring today.”

“That’s alright. Where do you want to eat?”

“I’m fine with anything, really. My treat!”

They head outside and 2B lets out a small sigh but the smile doesn’t disappear.

“Are we going to go through this again?”

“C’mon, it’s to celebrate your victory! Please, let me?”

“… Just this once, then.”

_____

Neither of them had anywhere else to be so they decide to walk around the city, browsing for places to eat. 9S asks 2B questions about kendo and eventually learns the basic rules and how she got into it in the first place. It seems like her sister liked it too and he briefly wonders if 4S knows that about A2, who apparently quit it years ago already. If he doesn’t know yet he’s definitely going to get a kick out of it. 9S makes a mental note to tell him the next time he sees him.

2B slows down and her words fade away as her eyes fixate on the window of a small café. The teal sign has _Village Café_ written across it, and the window showcasing some of their items in decorated with stuffed animals.

The stuffed animals are cute but the 2B staring at them probably without even noticing it herself is hundred times cuter.

He waits for her to say something for a few seconds, but as she remains silent, he decides to take the initiative.

“This place looks cozy. Ooh, that sandwich looks good.”

His voice causes her startle, pulling her out of her strange daze. _Cute._

“Yeah… Seems like a nice place.”

“Wanna eat here?”

“Sure.”

The café is quiet, only a couple of customers in. It is located on a fairly quiet street, not far off from a busier main street filled with different kinds of restaurants and cafés that most likely attract most of the customers who happen to wander the area.

The décor matches the showcase. The walls are painted teal and decorative shelves hold different kinds of plants and toys, the speakers filling the space with a peaceful melody that almost sounds like a lullaby.

It’s cozy, even if it also has a little bit of kindergarten vibe, including what looks like a playcorner for kids at the far end of the café.

A tall person with brown hair and a teal apron fitting the theme greets them from behind the counter when they enter.

“Welcome! Oh, I don’t think I’ve seen you two before! My name is Pascal, please sit wherever you find comfortable! I’ll be with you in just a moment.”

9S thanks them and gestures towards a small table of two by the window. While they’re seating themselves, Pascal brings them water.

“It’s always nice to have new customers! This place is on such a quiet street that new customers are kind of rare. What can I get for you today?”

“Oh, I thought that shrimp sandwich looked good, I’ll have one of those. What about you 2B?”

“I’ll have the same.”

“Understood. Would you like something to drink? Many of my regulars enjoy my peach tea.”

“Sounds good...” 9S looks over at 2B who nods with a smile, “We will both give it a try then.”

“Oh, how lovely! I’ll be right back.”

Pascal hurries off with a wide smile on his face. 9S can’t really pinpoint why, but… their smile somehow makes him feel oddly at peace.

Maybe it’s just the parent-y aura they give off, but that doesn’t feel quite right either.

_____

The sandwich is delicious and while the peach tea was a bit sweet to go with the the savory treat, 9S has really nothing to complain about.

“This is good! What do you think, 2B?”

2B replies with an eager nod and an appreciative hum while she chews, never lifting her eyes from her lunch. The sunlight illuminating her face and the gentle background noise from the café makes this kind of feel like a date. Maybe 9S is just seeing things he hopes to see, but to him it feels like 2B is acting a bit chummier with him. He’s pretty sure he even saw her blush earlier, but what if that was simply from embarrassment? Then again, why would she embarrassed about… _petting_ him if she didn’t feel anything at all?

He doesn’t realize he’s staring until 2B speaks to him.

“Hm? Aren’t you hungry?”

Right! Yes, yes he is.

“Oh, yeah! I was just… savoring it.”

2B holds his gaze as if she is searching for something. His breath catches in his throat and even though her gaze is burning him, he refuses to avert his eyes. He doesn’t know what 2B is trying to find but he lets her intrude as much as she wants, and briefly considers just confessing his feelings right then and there.

Not that he actually has the guts to follow through with the idea but he does consider it.

What certainly felt like more than a few seconds but most likely wasn’t, 2B breaks the eye contact without a word and grabs her teacup. She stares at it for a second before closing her eyes and bringing it to her lips.

If she caught onto something, she is not letting it show on her face.

Suddenly she speaks up again, somewhat quiet.

“Do you mind if I look at the poster again?”

“N-not at all! I made it for you, after all. Here.”

He hands her the rolled-up poster and she opens it to get a better look at all the details. Having her examining it that carefully is suddenly making 9S kind of embarrassed, and he fiddles with his thumbs and looks around the café to distract himself.

“Thank you for this, really.” 2B says and her voice is softer than he’s heard it so far, effectively making him even more flustered. “No of my friends has ever made me one before.”

“Oh. Wait, really? I would’ve guessed 6O had done something like this back when you two were in middle school.”

2B shakes her head.

“She doesn’t really care about kendo so she doesn’t come watch me, not anymore at least. She tried couple of times back in middle school. Besides, I don’t think she would’ve had the courage to show off a poster in front of other people back then, she used to be shyer.”

That’s… really hard to imagine but he’s just going to have to take 2B’s word for it.

“Oh, I see. Well, then it was definitely worth making one! You can keep that if you want, I’ll make another one for the next competition.”

“… Can I?”

“Of course!”

The bashful smile she makes nearly blinds him and 9S knows he will still see it when he closes his eyes that night to go to sleep.

_____

“Please come again!” Pascal calls out after them when they eventually leave the café.

“So… Do you wanna go straight home or maybe do something else while were out in town? It’s still early.”

9S secretly keeps his fingers crossed behind his back for her to pick the latter but it doesn’t work. Guess you can only have so much luck on one day.

“Maybe not now. I’m a little tired, to be honest, and dragging my equipment in tight spaces isn’t too much fun.”

Hiding his disappointment, 9S assures her it’s alright and turns around to head towards the nearest train station.

“… But maybe next time.”

2B doesn’t meet his eyes but her cheeks seem just a little rosy.

“Yeah, next time,” 9S promises with a smile.

If he was a little bit braver, or if this was a cheesy shojo manga, he might have reached out his hand to hold hers. But he isn’t, so he keeps his hand firmly on his side… at least for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Afterwards, 2B falls asleep with her head on 9S' shoulder on the way back on the train and 9S is filled to the brim with pure adoration and he's too terrified to move an inch the entire way, lest he wakes her up. I liked the place where I ended it so I decided to just write it here as an omake instead of forcing it in there.
> 
> I’m not sure if I’m going to talk about Pascal more in this fic but I wanted to give you his backstory in this AU because he deserves to be happy too.  
> \- He’s in his mid-50s, his looks are up for the reader because I can’t paint good enough of a picture of human Pascal in my mind to describe him in words.
> 
> \- Always found genders kind of restricting so he doesn’t identify with any in particular and is fine with pretty much any pronouns (although this is not as prevalent in Japanese context anyway).
> 
> \- Likes being called an uncle though, and when children call him Uncle Pascal, he’s filled with joy deep down to his core (no pun intended). 
> 
> \- His parents owned the café he now manages, but they are getting old. His mother became ill (nothing too severe or life-threatening, just bad enough that she can’t work normally anymore) and they decided to retire the business and move out into the country while Pascal took over the café.
> 
> \- Pascal majored in education and taught in an elementary school for over 10 years before taking over the café. He was a bit sad about leaving the school, but…
> 
> \- He didn’t let that stop his love for children and instead, he decided to become a foster parent for any child that needs one for one reason or another. His dream is to afford a bigger apartment (his current one has only three bedrooms so he’s currently capable of fostering only 2-3 children at a time. He would like to foster up to 5.)
> 
> \- The playcorner in the café was originally built so that the 5yo he was fostering at a time could play there all day while he worked at the café.
> 
> \- The playcorner has made the café kind of popular with parents, and many housewives bring their children there during lunch to play with other kids.
> 
> \- Before Pascal started fostering, there was a boy around the age of 17 that used to come to the café around closing time every day. He tried to hide in the playcorner, but Pascal found him. Turns out he was homeless, and Pascal made him a meal and hot drinks for free and told him he’s free to sleep there if he wants to, but that Pascal would also be willing to offer a warm bed to sleep in at his place. The boy eventually breaks down in front of Pascal, tells him how he’s homeless and Pascal comforts him. Pascal tells him where he could get help. The boy stayed with Pascal for a few weeks before disappearing and Pascal was beyond distraught. A few months later, now with new clothes and a fresh haircut, the boy came back to his café came to tell him his sincere thanks for looking out for him and to apologize for disappearing suddenly. Turns out he decided to take Pascal’s advice and sook help and got back on his feet. Pascal cried out of happiness and hugged him. The boy, now a man, still stops by every now and then to catch up with his Uncle Pascal.  
> \- After that incident, Pascal would get an occasional troubled teen timidly asking for something to eat and Pascal always provides them with a warm and free meal, no questions asked. The incident also led him to the idea of becoming a foster parent.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't really talk about their school uniforms, but here's a link to what I was thinking of: https://data.tokyogirlsupdate.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/hottest-seifuku-boysngirls-02.jpg
> 
> The boys have ties instead of ribbons and the pants have the same pattern as the skirt.


End file.
